Separate Lives

This is a real howler. An unintentionally hilarious "psychological thriller" that's bad on just about every level. If the opening two scenes don't make you laugh nothing will. I admit I'm a sucker for anything with Linda Hamilton. I'll even put up with Jim Belushi for her. Hell I've done that twice now and both times it was a miserable experience. Ok that's not fair because this one I at least got some chuckles out of. Anyway this movie is the pits but if you're in the mood to laugh give it a shot. It's so stupid it's beyond belief.

One of the most lacklustre psycho thrillers of the era, SEPARATE LIVES is a film that manages to get pretty much everything wrong although not so severely that it moves into so-bad-it's-good territory. Instead it's a lukewarm and half-hearted enterprise in which an overaged and miscast James Belushi plays a former detective now full-time psychology student. His professor is none other than TERMINATOR starlet Linda Hamilton, still playing up to her powerful image but struggling in an underwritten schizophrenic role. The thrills are in extremely short supply in a film which feels like a TV movie (although it isn't) and the half-hearted sex scenes and the like are truly tiresome.

The former police detective Tom Beckwith (James Belushi) leaves the police department to be a psychology student. Tom lives with his daughter Ronni (Elisabeth Moss) and has a crush one his professor, the psychiatrist Lauren Porter (Linda Hamilton). One day, Lauren asks him to follow her during the nights since she has blackouts and might have killed an acquaintance. Tom accepts and discovers that Lauren has another personality, Lena. "Separate Lives" is an entertaining B-movie with James Belushi and Linda Hamilton. The lack of chemistry between this leading cast is probably one of the greatest flaws of this film. The classes of Lauren Porter are also forgotten. The conclusion is weak. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Dupla Personalidade" ("Double Personality")

Nothing really noteworthy enough here to comment on; just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, middling mystery thriller. The mystery plot keeps you watching, but it relies almost exclusively on the all-important Final Revelation of the Childhood Trauma, and when there are almost no thrills along the way, a viewer can get really impatient (even Hitchcock failed that way, in "Marnie"). James Belushi sleepwalks through his role without any zest, but Linda Hamilton gets to show off - on many occasions - her impressively "sculpted" body, and also some moderate acting talent, though the rapid transformations of her character become a little silly in the final 30 minutes. (**)