Deadly Whispers (1995) Tony Danza, Pamela Reed, Ving Rhames, Heather Tom, Camryn Manheim Movie Review

Deadly Whispers (1995)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Pamela Reed and Tony Danza in Deadly Whispers (1995)

Who's the Killer

Tom Acton (Tony Danza - Doing Life) is a strong believer in family, hard work and not wasting an opportunity, it is why his teenage daughter, Kathy (Heather Tom), frustrates him as she dropped out of High School and whilst working for Tom at his junkyard starts an affair with a married man. When Kathy doesn't return home one evening Tom and his wife, Carol (Pamela Reed - Woman with a Past), spend all night looking for her before calling the police and being told by Det. Jackson (Ving Rhames - Dave) that not for another 8 hours can she be reported as missing. But when Kathy is found murdered the police investigation focuses on Tom as he becomes the main suspect, whilst a series of secrets come out.

"Deadly Whispers" is an intriguing movie which straddles the line of being average with some things not quite working whilst other things ending up seriously impressing. As such I will say that as a fan of TV movies coming across a TV movie where a child is found murdered and the police make the father the chief suspect is kind of familiar. And in fairness to "Deadly Whispers" it does a decent job of keeping you in suspense as to who was behind the murder of Kathy and why although even then the outcome is nothing out of the ordinary.

Ving Rhames in Deadly Whispers (1995)

But the thing about "Deadly Whispers" is that it is a TV movie and as such I could list many of the usual flaws which accompany that phrase such as a storyline which leaps around a little as the script and running time doesn't allow for complete detail whilst the editing is at times a bit clunky which spoils the atmosphere. But at the same time "Deadly Whispers" is a movie which every now and then delivers a scene that packs a punch such as when Det. Jackson pays the Acton's a visit after the discovery of a body and Carol doesn't want to sit down as she knows that he is there with bad news. I could go on because when the Det. warns Carol to be careful as they suspect Tom the power of the scene lifts the movie no end as she is incensed that he could suspect her husband.

Now to be honest when most people think Tony Danza they might think of him in "Taxi" or "Who's the Boss" but his performance in "Deadly Whispers" is so much more. He brings out the devotion of a protective father who ends up shell shocked by what has happened to his little girl. And at the same time Pamela Reed delivers a performance which grows as she goes from housewife to a strong woman who is giving her husband the strength to carry on. These two performances take you aback and they on their own make watching "Deadly Whispers" worthwhile, let alone anything else.

What this all boils down to is that "Deadly Whispers" is a movie which when it comes to the storyline it isn't the most original although it is still good. But this is a rare TV movie where the acting stands out for the right reasons with both Tony Danza and Pamela Reed making this movie a lot more engrossing than you might expect.


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