Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 9, 1994 TAG: 9401080013
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON MILLER KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We know better, of course. In the opening minutes of NBC's ``Secret Sins of the Father,'' we see Mrs. Thielman suffer some kind of attack, sit down on the stair landing and feebly call for help. We also see somebody standing nearby on the stairs, presumably watching her die.
The obvious answers don't suit Police Chief Tom Thielman (Beau Bridges), who's suspicious of his mother's death. Why does she have that peculiar scratch on her back? Could it have been made by that nail head protruding from a step when somebody dragged her up the stairs, then pushed her back down them?
What Tom fears most finally comes to pass: His investigation leads him to suspect his own father, Louis (Lloyd Bridges), who argued with Carol earlier that evening over his decision to leave her and live with his young mistress, Lisa (Rhonda Reynolds).
There are other potential suspects - Tom's money-grubbing brother, L.J. (Frederick Coffin), and the mysterious ranch hand named Arnold (Ed Lauter). But Tom seems determined to nail his father for the crime.
``Secret Sins of the Father,'' which airs tonight at 9 on WSLS (Channel 10), is an ordinary murder mystery with an overlay of small-town corruption. Its main distinguishing feature is that it's directed by Beau Bridges, who stars with his real father, Lloyd, as an estranged father and son. Unfortunately, that's not enough to sustain interest very long.
Louis' confession that he killed his wife shouldn't fool anybody very long. Even when his son brings charges against him, we suspect he's not guilty or is somehow mistaken about the degree of his guilt.
By the time the case comes to court, realism has pretty well gone out the window. A special prosecutor (Victoria Rowell) takes over the case while Tom faces angry townspeople who can't believe he's actually prosecuting his popular father.
The real problem here is the screenplay by Lillian Samuel, which never gets around to explaining why father and son don't get along, does a poor job of sustaining suspense and makes use of some absurd plot turns to keep things moving along.
Without a gripping story, it's necessary to look for other reasons to stay with the movie. One may be the opportunity it presents to compare two generations of the Bridges family in action.
Watching Beau and Lloyd Bridges together in this movie is a direct contrast to their work in CBS' ``Harts of the West,'' in which Lloyd plays an old sourdough who's there mainly for comic relief and his son plays an amiable city dude trying to run a ranch.
Young Bridges is much more intense in this film, playing a troubled man who's trying to keep his own marriage to wife Ann (Lee Purcell) together while probing the reasons his parents' relationship fell apart. And Lloyd's sad, rather pathetic character definitely isn't around for comic relief.
The elder Bridges, who's 80, remains remarkably fit, which makes his relationship with a young woman fairly credible. He even has a poolside scene wearing a bathing suit. You will not see many octogenarians look that lean and firm. He puts his chubby 52-year-old son to shame. Inexplicably, Beau gives himself several scenes in which he's partly undressed. Bad idea.
Without an absorbing mystery to intrigue us, ``Secret Sins of the Father'' amounts to little more than a home movie for the Bridges. For that matter, the movie's best scenes are the real home movies of a very young Lloyd Bridges, playing on the beach with his family, including the little boy who grew up to be his director and co-star.
by CNB