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Hear No Evil (1993)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
9/21
9/21:
If anyone is wondering why Marlee Matlin is no leading lady, it doesn't have anything to do with her deafness but rather
the fact that she can't carry a movie.
Marlee Matlin is at best a supporting player in a very limited role. Hear No Evil showcases some of the most
horrible acting of her career. It's quite bad many times, and she and D.B. Sweeney shame themselves further with a
lot of kissing.
I can't blame them because the movie wasn't getting anywhere. The dialogue is often choppy, and many scenes don't connect
well. The closer the film is toward the end, the more narrow the vacuum becomes which means it's only a few people having
each other to work with. When I thought the ending had arrived, it proceeded to torture me for another twenty minutes.
Earlier on, one character is killed in a fiery automobile accident, and he comes back from the dead for the second half.
Shocking isn't the right word to describe it, but the truth is: I was already long past caring. For a mystery thriller,
Hear No Evil is for sure suspenseless, no matter how hard Marlee Matlin can fake her damsel-in-distress emotions.
In many ways, it tries hard to be the deaf version of Wait Until Dark. Marlee Matlin is Audrey Hepburn, and
Martin Sheen is Richard Crenna. A rare coin hidden in the beeper is substituted for heroin in the doll. What's
missing the entire time is a Mr. Roat-like character which is the only reason why the classic worked.
Everybody talks about the rare coin, but I'm never informed exactly what it is until the movie is over. Gee thanks,
guys...that was the only question I had the entire time. Some explanation right from the beginning would've helped.
By the way, the story of Alexander the Great and all that is fake. There's no such thing as a Prentiss coin.
As for the deaf stuff, it's the first time ever that a character actually makes a reference to closed captions which is amusing
anyway. Of course, TTY and flashing doorbell for the deaf are prominently featured. It may be a bit strange to see almost no
closed captions on TV. This can happen for one of the following reasons: (1) it required a closed caption decoder box;
(2) not all channels were closed-captioned friendly; and (3) Ben wasn't aware there's such a thing as closed captions.
All in all, Hollywood gave Marlee Matlin a try by putting her in the lead role for Hear No Evil, but she
flunked the test.