V.I. Warshawski

V.I. Warshawski_720p(480P)

This movie does have some things going for it; above all, the performances of Kathleen Turner and Angela Goethals. Turner fits the profile of her character and is believably tough, sarcastic and funny, while Goethals is one of the best teen actresses I've seen in a while, with a sharp timing that matches Turner; those two make an enjoyable team. And yet something holds the movie back from being anything more than a passable diversion - maybe it's the plot, which is interesting for the most part but gets a little too far-fetched at the end (without spoiling anything, I couldn't easily accept that "person A" was so intent on killing "person B"), or maybe it's the direction, which doesn't have enough style and doesn't make much use of the Chicago locations (apart from a boat chase). It's kind of a shame that this movie didn't get any sequels - they had the right actress for the part, all they needed was a better vehicle for her. ** out of 4.

"V.I. Warshawski" (Kathleen Turner) is a private detective who is hired by a former hockey player named "Bernard 'Boom Boom' Grafalk" (Stephen Meadows) to investigate some deals involving his two brothers. When her client is murdered she not only inherits the murder case but temporarily gets Bernard's 13 year-old daughter "Kat" (Angela Goethals) as well. Throw in a shady mob figure by the name of "Smeissen" (Wayne Knight), a fatherly cop "Lt. Mallory" (Charles Durning) and a two-timing newspaper journalist named "Murray" (Jay O. Sanders) and what develops is a good action movie with plenty of humor along the way. Now, while this movie certainly has some faults what I liked best about it was the performance of Kathleen Turner who I thought did quite well in spite of some weak dialogue and a couple of rather obvious and predictable scenes. She also had some great legs. In any case, I enjoyed the movie and I rate it as slightly above average.

I have always loved this movie and I think it has to do with the strong woman character. Kathleen Turner was made for this precise type of role where she plays a wise cracking P.I. reacting to a smart mouthed 13 year old who becomes her next client. I love this movie and just finished watching it for the 15th time and still always enjoy it. I don't know why it never made it at the box office but maybe it has something to do with how she makes fun of men in the movie. But it all is done with tongue in cheek and it has something for everyone in it. Another movie where she plays the same type of character is "Undercover Blues." If you haven't seen it. Go rent it and enjoy!

I saw this movie ONCE, in 1991 when it was released, and it stunk so bad that 9 years later I STILL remember it and am returning to have my revenge. Particularly cringeworthy are the opening shots where Turner is talking to some butcher about various problems with males, or her boyfriend, or whatever, while the background is literally a curtain of hanging sausages. Not a little too blatant on the symbolism there. Then after listening to V I complain about being ogled while jogging, the camera rests lovingly on her bare, pumping legs while she is, um well, out jogging -- allowing the audience to condemn lowbrow sexuality one moment and indulge in it the next. Finally, the director found it necessary to show all the disgusting closeup details of V I's elderly refrigerator contents, after Turner's carefully filmed gasp of repulsion upon opening the door, not even trusting the audience enough to let them imagine it for themselves. All in all, an irritating waste of Kathleen Turner's talents and my time. I haven't given this the full and eloquent blasting it deserves and has received from other IMDb commenters, but it WAS 9 years ago and time blessedly blunts the details. As an addendum, let me say that while reviewer Marinelle K. Szenasy (see below) may have liked the film, she's totally off base in attributing its critical panning to men's "fear" of VI's character. I get very tired of crappily-constructed female characters being excused on the basis of offending male biases. It is possible for tough female characters to be both well written and appealing-- see e.g. Pulp Fiction -- and I applaud those whenever they appear. Sorry, Ms. Szenasy, you'll have to come up with a better excuse than that for this dreck. A 2 on the star-o-meter.

Now I know that reading a book is much better than a movie, but this was the pits! Somehow a smart, independent woman, who would be not found for five minutes in high heels was seen as a sex symbol. Turner was a good idea for the part, but it was played all wrong! Also, Warshawski takes on the corporate part of Chicago, not some hockey player and her stupid kid! If Turner played Warshawski correctly, she would have thrown that little brat on the street. Thay also made Mr. Contraas, her neighbor into a "dirty old man" who fit every sterotype of a Mexican immigrant!Anyway, if you want thrills, read the book instead! This movie was really bad!

source: V.I. Warshawski

I have never read the books, but I LOVED THIS MOVIE. Kathleen Turner was PERFECT in this role!! i disagree with others who say she was miscast--WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!! They couldn't have picked a better actress for this detective. I saw this film when it was in theaters, and loved it then. I got the chance to see it again on Encore today, and it has lost none of it's punch or humor, not to mention action. I just wish it was half-an-hour longer!! I thought Everyone was wonderful in the film, especially the little girl. And I adored the music! I wish they had made more films from the other books. i WOULDN'T MIND OWNING THIS ONE! tHIS IS A REAL GEM.

I quite like this movie, as it's a good detective yarn and Kathleen Turner gives her usual professional performance - in this case as tough female private-eye, V.I.Warshawski. For some odd reason the film reminds me of "The Maltese Falcon"; but anyway it holds one's interest. There's plenty of action, and what does V.I. need in order to hire her? "Money, and a Just Cause". Score: 7 out of 10.

I had a problem with this film right from the start. It is a problem that I would not have noticed if I had watched it in 1991 when it was released, but being four years old at the time there was not much chance that I had watched it. Watching it in 2012 however may be a problem for some people and it is a problem that will have your mind wandering from the so called plot and onto something else entirely. Those 'some' people though would have to be Friends fans and that is because Kathleen Turner, the lead of this movie, plays Chandler Bing's Dad, yes Dad, in the hit US comedy show. This to me was a major issue as I just couldn't take the actress seriously. When she kissed her on-off boyfriend I couldn't help but think it was two men kissing. Not that it would be an issue if it was two men but I couldn't take the character of VI Warshawski seriously. Before I dig a hole with the stereotype of Mr Kathleen Turner, sorry Mrs Kathleen Turner, I will mention that she is also the voice of Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? This created another problem because she has a really sexy voice. If I closed my eyes I could hear a sexy, long legged, red headed cartoon with huge breasts and when I opened my eyes I would see Chandler Bing's Father. This was a confusing time for me. I'll move on with the film, it isn't good. In fact it is so poorly directed and written that it would have been better doing the Jessica Rabbit, Chandler Bing's Dad cross character, as it would have made this film much more interesting. It was corny and cheesy and most of the acting was absolutely dreadful which made lines that possibly weren't intended on being corny even more corny. The film is about Private Investigator Vicky Warshawski. She meets a man in a bar and later on that night he turns up at her door asking her to look after his daughter. Is that normal behaviour towards someone you've just met? She agrees, he goes off, is murdered and Warshawski intends on solving the mystery. She involves the daughter and they head off on a girl beats man mission. Every line is a comment to chauvinistic men. 'Us girls should stick together', that kind of poor dialogue. The plot is a complete wash over and everything is just far too easy. There is no investigating what so ever and the first clue they receive seems to be the only one they need, as the case was obvious from the very first minute. I thought an investigation film needed to keep the viewer in the dark and spring an unbelievable surprise right at the end. Obviously not. The action scenes are dull. A boat chase where nothing happens and a final shoot out which just sucks. The only good thing from the film was the array of actors that you will see in films and programmes of today. We have a scientist from The Day After Tomorrow, a cop from Dog Day Afternoon, the small stupid pirate from Pirates Of The Caribbean, the caretaker of the building in Friends and Wayne Knight, the man who gets spat in the face by a dinosaur in Jurassic Park. There is also a cameo from the Ghostbusters's building, I'm sure of it. At least this review has come to something. It has reminded us of all the other decent films out there that are a hundred times better than this one. I seem to have mentioned more films unrelated to this one than I have the one I'm reviewing. By all accounts Warshawski was a series of detective novels that portrayed the character completely differently to how she is portrayed by the film makers. Perhaps it could have been a better film if some reading of the novels had been done, but that clearly hadn't happened. I'll sum up V.I. Warshawski in three words; don't bother watching. 1 / 5 Tolli Check out more reviews at: www.tolli-movieworld.blogspot.com Follow me @Tolli04