As Good as Dead (1995)

Touches You

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Crystal Bernard is "As Good as Dead" in this 1995 film written and directed by Larry Cohen. Before the day of home computers, Larry Cohen's grammar school-aged daughter had to write a short report. Mr. Cohen used the typing agency where I worked to type his scripts. So on a Sunday, I took a cab to his beautiful home in New York City, got the hand-printed paper, went home, typed it, got in a cab and brought the typed paper back. We also typed a couple of scripts for him in the office. He would dictate them and take on the accent or emotion of the characters. I've followed his prolific career with great interest.In "As Good as Dead," Bernard plays Susan Warfield, who works in an office. She takes a hep, sick young woman, Nicole (Traci Lords) to the hospital and gives the desk her own insurance card so that Nicole can be treated. Otherwise, they would have to go to the county hospital.Susan tells her office she has to have surgery (as Nicole does) and then takes off on vacation so as not to run into anyone she knows. When she returns, Nicole, assumed to be Susan, is unexpectedly dead; Susan's apartment has been cleared out, and her job is gone. The strangest part of it is that a half-brother that Susan isn't aware she has made all the arrangements. Susan has no choice but to move into Nicole's apartment and wear Nicole's trendy, too short clothes until she can find out why Nicole died and who this mysterious half-brother is.This is actually quite an interesting film, very Lifetime, very TV movie, but entertaining with good performances. Bernard is likable, Lords is Lords, and Judge Reinhold does very well as an attractive man who becomes part of Nicole's (Susan's) life.Mr. Cohen's daughter is undoubtedly married now with children of her own. Though this film was made in 1995, he is still very active as a writer. Thanks to the computer, I'm still typing.

Susan's friend Nicole takes ill suddenly and has no medical insurance, so they swap identities, but then Nicole dies during surgery. With her bank accounts closed and fearing she may be implicated in manslaughter, Susan continues the pretence of being Nicole and tries to figure out what happened and how to get her life back.This is a good TV thriller, due to writer-producer-director Cohen's considerable skill as a scripter - for me, he always gets the balance just right between intriguing premise, plot development and plausibility, and this story is typically full of good ideas. What would happen if the authorities mistakenly thought you were dead ? How could you fake a blood-type on a patient-ID ? How could you assume someone else's identity ? As well as grappling with these ideas, Susan is also dealing with her own guilt and her new-found relations, including a half-brother with a closetful of secrets. The four leads are good and the story keeps you guessing in a pleasant way, although inevitably there's a little bit of a TV-movie sheen of blandness. If you've never heard of him, check out Cohen's rich body of work; his movies are all cheap and nutty, but highly original and caustic; my favourites are God Told Me To, Full Moon High and The Ambulance, but he's written many other good films (Best Seller, Guilty As Sin, etc). A minor work by a great writer-director.

It seems odd to me that this made for TV movie was just on a pay channel, which is how I saw it. It was funny to me that it was supposed to take place up north in LA but was shot in San Diego, to be more specific I'll be damned if that wasn't Ocean Beach. I always love seeing movies that were shot in SD (especially if they say it's somewhere else) because I love pointing out places I recognize. One thing I was wondering... when the character thought of letting her friend use her identity did she even wonder if they had the same blood type? Normally in a hospital they will pull the paperwork and use what is on that, so unless they did have the same blood type they would have done the damage anyways by using the blood on file. Maybe its just me. Judge's character was in the right place at the right time when she almost ran into him, how handy. haha

Crystal Bernard is mixed up in a self-induced identity crisis with Traci Lords and Judge Reinhold. She pulls off the part quite well with her Texas charm and manages to make this an entertaining cheesy made for TV movie. Judge Reinhold plays a decent psychopath, especially with his creepy "We were made for each other" voice. As Good as Dead is comparable to Heartless with Madchen Amick, and is about as equally entertaining. This movie rates high for predictability, and its plot outline has been done repeatedly. The movie is worth seeing just for Judge Reihnold's inimitable comical presence and to see what he's been up to.