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Antarctic Journal
Seldom Seen review | ISN’T IT SHOCKING?
Posted by Collin Armstrong at 5:59am.
Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Thriller, Comedy, USA & Canada, Seldom Seen Reviews.
Alda’s sheriff Barnes is at a personal crossroads, stuck in an unhappy relationship and contemplating a move to the (slightly bigger) city from his smalltown home, Angel Falls. An old woman found dead of a heart attack one morning isn’t much news to him, but when a cycle of deaths begins to grip the town’s elderly Barnes suspects something foul. His investigation adds pressure to the long-unrequited attraction he shares with his receptionist-cum-deputy Blanche (Louise Lasser), draws him closer to pretty medical examiner Lovell (Dorothy Tristan) and her retired father (Geer), and finally reveals a sordid secret shared by the members of a long-graduated high school class that holds the key to Angel Fall’s rising death rate. Isn’t It Shocking? plays best when focused on Alda’s travails with the women in his life. Unable to fully commit to his girlfriend (and her out-of-control brood of young boys) and liable to talk about anything but himself or his feelings with Lasser, Alda repeatedly flakes out when it comes to doing the right thing romantically. The picture’s rhythms tend more toward comedy than suspense, though there are well-staged set pieces (like the baroquely-lit opening murder) built around the story’s mystery arc peppered throughout. Slate, a veteran writer on a number of excellent MFTVs as well as ‘77’s gonzo auto-amuck shocker The Car here crafts a scenario filled with nicely realized small town characters and cheeky attitudes. Other touches, like the daughter / father forensics team and Alda’s complete incompetence around children add humor and color. Badham directs with touches of high style, including during the afore-mentioned opening kill and in a lengthy car chase over back roads culminating in an impressive bit of stunt driving. Part of ABC’s Movie of the Week lineage, Isn’t It Shocking?’s rights still sit with the Alphabet. If ABC ever decides to open the MOW floodgates and begin releasing some of these titles, they might themselves be shocked at the fanbases quality telefilms like … Shocking? have maintained over the years.
In order to both honor the MFTV achievements of director John Badham and supply more much-needed coverage to the indisputable treasure trove of titles which graced the small screen 30-some-odd years ago, this double shot of Seldom Seen will look at two Badham-helmed MFTV offerings – 1973’s Isn’t It Shocking? and 1974’s
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Reader Comments
impossiblefunky 08/08/2007 @ 9:33am
Be sure to check out some of Badham’s other early TV works like THE GUN.
Arch Stanton 08/09/2007 @ 5:28am
Now if someone could put this out on DVD with James Garner’s THEY ONLY KILL THEIR MASTERS it would be a great little double bill of quirky small town sheriff movies.