Skeletons (1997)

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's a pity to have to write this considering the great talent pool that worked on this hack piece. Christopher Plummer must have fallen on hard times financially to appear in this wreck as a deranged Maine Scottish minister defending murder of homosexuals and mayhem directed at the New York journalist (Ron Silver) who uncovers the skeletons in the local retards closets. Every character in this film is a cliché to be hated as intolerant, bigoted, biased, prejudiced and just plane gun totting stupid. In point of plain fact it is the producers, director, writers and actors who fit that description. One would think that they could at least try to be subtle about their rancid hatred for traditional values in order to convince viewers of their ideas. Obviously not.This is as about as bad as it gets when New York socialists write a script for Hollywood limousine liberals to condition the minds of viewers that homosexual coupling is the wave of the future. Do they really think that movie-goers are that stupid? Guess so.Sui Generis Beverly Hills California

"Skeletons" is listed as a 1997 TV-movie, but it must have been shown somewhere else given its not-ready-for-prime time language.It stars Ron Silver, Dee Wallace Stone, Christopher Plummer, James Coburn, and Carole Baker.This is actually a horror film, though it starts off as a mystery. When journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Crane (Silver) suffers a heart attack, he and his wife (Stone) and young son move to a small, idyllic New England town, Saugatuck. They haven't been there long when a woman (Baker) comes to see Crane, knowing his reputation. Her son has been accused of killing his gay lover; she knows he didn't do it and wants Crane to investigate.It's clear from the get-go that the town is anti-gay, and the Crane family is immediately harassed by the locals because of Crane's interest in the case. Crane smells a set-up, and when another tragedy occurs, he's sure of it.This film disintegrated into horror-land toward the end. It became obvious that some of these actors -- Mr. Plummer, I'm talking to you -- did it for the money. One of our finest actors in this dreck - I find it reprehensible. Ditto James Coburn.I'd like to say this film is dated but we know in some parts of the country, this kind of harassment against gays still goes on. This movie over-emphasized the point but still, since it is a horror film, it could be made today, seventeen years later. That makes me sad. Like a few other things in "Skeletons."

I don't know what the previous writer was talking about, this was an excellent movie, I think Ron Silver was completely overshadowed by the acting ability of British Born actor Lee Tonks but he still did good. Lee Tonks was excellent in this movie. The plot was well derived, cinematography was excellent! I think it's amazing that they managed to get Anthony Pownall to work on such a small budget feature, but I guess he must have been friends with the producer or something. I don't think the average American public realizes the acting ability of Anthony Pownall and Lee Tonks. anyone who watches this movie is in for a real treat.

I hold this movie in absolute disdain. It is one of those "we have a do-good, politically correct, neatly packaged little movie that we swear really does have a point." This movie is about a sleepy little town that has a gay murder that may or may not have been a hate crime (though they not-so-subtly make it clear that it was). An ill writer moves there, exposes the story, and is harassed to no end. This movie is basically here to say that moral positions against homosexuality are wrong, that religion is really an evil narcotic, and that anyone who disagrees is a bigoted homophobe. It is sad that the director let the soap-box proclamations get in the way, because the idea of a xenophobic little town with strange people and not enough genetic variation is a decent premise. James Coburn, Christopher Plummer, and Ron Silver are all very good actors, but they are simply not able to show what they can do.The pace at which this film staggers reminds me of one of my alcoholic friend's storytelling abilities. It lurches forth and alternates between fast action that makes no sense, then bizarre attempts to build suspense that fail miserably. The film also takes a turn for the bizarre when a crazy lady befriends the ill writer. I can't say too much about it without giving the move away, but the end is especially bizarre and disappointing. All in all, a very bad movie.I would, in closing, like to point out one key similarity between this movie and my aforementioned alcoholic friend. At the end of his stories he would usually throw up. At the end of this movie, you will.