Julianne Phillips | Through the Shattered Lens

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1993’s The Only Way Out! It can be viewed on YouTube.

“I’ll kill you before I let you go,” Tony (Henry Winkler) says to his terrified girlfriend, Lynn (Stephanie Faracy).

Agck! Those are frightening words and they are certainly not something that you would expect to hear from a character played by notorious Hollywood nice guy Henry Winkler. And, indeed, it would probably shock most of the characters in the film if they knew how Tony talked to Lynn. Tony is a grad student who has worked at any number of jobs. While some people might say all of those jobs prove that Tony has a hard time sticking to anything, Tony has obviously learned how to convince people that he’s actually a just a determined man working his way through grad school and taking whatever job will help to pay the bills. Tony is friendly and romantic and given to grand gestures. He’s the type who shows up unexpectedly at Lynn’s place of employment with flowers. He’s the type of guy that strangers applaud while those close to him look for any way to escape.

Lynn knows all about the other side of Tony. Tony is controlling, obsessive, and abusive. He hits her. He barks orders at her kids. When she tells him that she wants him out of her life, he refuses to go and blames her for all of their problems. He’s someone who can quickly go from being everyone’s friend to being a monster. He preys on insecurity and, whenever anyone stands up to him, he plays the victim. Tony is a classic abuser and the fact that he’s played by the likable Henry Winkler makes him all the more disturbing. Like most abusers, Tony knows how to turn on the charm. He knows the power of a smile and a few complimentary words.

Lynn is in the process of getting divorced from an architect named Jeremy (John Ritter). It’s been a remarkably amicable divorce, with Jeremy and Lynn agreeing on joint custody and apparently not bearing any ill feelings towards one another. The only problem is that Lynn cannot bring herself to actually sign the divorce papers. Jeremy wants to marry Susannah (Julianne Phillips) and Susannah is not happy about the long wait. She’s even less happy when Jeremy takes it upon himself to try to protect Lynn from Tony. Soon, Tony is stalking Jeremy and Jeremy finds himself considering a particularly extreme solution to his problem.

It’s John Ritter vs Henry Winkler and the casting of two of Hollywood’s best-known nice guys as violent rivals works surprisingly well. Winkler is memorably unhinged while Ritter plays a guy who is struggling to hold onto a life that, until Tony shows up, seemed to be perfect. In the end, it’s not just Tony who catches us by surprise by just how far he’s willing to take things. The film’s ending took me by genuine surprise. Featuring excellent dramatic turns from two actors best known for their comedic skills, The Only Way Out is a superior melodrama.

7hrs_to_judgement-frnt When I saw that Erin has picked Judge Not My Sins for her artwork of the day, I was reminded of Seven Hours to Judgment, a movie that used to occasionally show up on HBO.

David Reardon (Ron Liebman) owns an electronics store and is professionally known as “Crazy Dave.” When three gang members, led by Chino (Reggie Johnson), are arrested for pushing Dave’s wife off of a subway platform, it looks like the legal system might let them go. Because Dave’s wife is in a coma, she cannot testify that they pushed her. However, Dave has tracked down a witness who saw what Chino did. But the witness is not immediately available to testify. Dave begs Judge John Eden (Beau Bridges) for an extension but the judge is one of those bleeding heart, by-the-book types. Even though he believes Chino to be guilty, Judge Eden dismisses the case. At the same time, Dave’s wife dies and Crazy Dave starts to live up to his nickname.

With the help of one of his employees, the hulking and child-like Ira (Tiny Ron), Dave kidnaps both Judge Eden and his wife (Julianne Phillips). Dave tells Judge Eden that he has seven hours to track down the witness and get the evidence that would have convicted Chino. If Eden doesn’t find the evidence, his wife will be blown up. Judge Eden is dumped in the worst part of town, without any money, identification, or credit cards. Dave tells him, “You helped create these streets!”

The rest of the movie is Eden running through the mean streets of wherever the movie is supposed to be taking place. (It was filmed in Seattle but the city is never specifically named.) Everyone who meets Eden tries to beat him up, which is one way to put a judge who is soft on crime in his place. The only person who doesn’t beat up Eden is a homeless woman who licks his face. Soon, Eden even has Chino after him. The normally laid back and affable Beau Bridges isn’t usually thought of as being an action star and this movie shows why. Judge Eden is such a wuss of a hero that it seems appropriate that he eventually has to hitch a ride in the back of a garbage truck.

Along with the miscasting of Beau Bridges, the other major problem with Seven Hours to Judgment is that it requires us to believe that Dave, even if he is “crazy,” could come up with such an intricate and elaborate plan and set it all up within just a few hours of his wife dying and Chino being released. “Smug liberal get mugged by reality” was a successful theme for many low-budget action films in the 1980s but Seven Hours to Judgment is ultimately just as dumb and implausible as it sounds.

Seven Hours to Judgment was a reunion for Leibman and Bridges, who previously co-starred in an excellent and overlooked road movie called Your Three Minutes Are Up. For some reason, Beau Bridges also directed Seven Hours to Judgment.