This movie debuted on the Lifetime network last week in the states. I had never read a Patricia Cornwell novel, and it had been ages since I'd seen an Andie MacDowell movie. Having missed the premiere of Cornwell's "At Risk" on the same network the week before, I have just these few observations.
1. "The Front" assumes some familiarity with either Cornwell's characters or (I assume) the previous film. In "The Front," one must listen carefully for clues, not just with respect to the mystery, but regarding the identity of the characters and their relationships, as well.
2. Of the two principal actors, MacDowell and Daniel Sunjata, the latter presents the better performance. I'm sorry, but MacDowell's D.A., Monique Lamont, just didn't convince me as worthy of her office. In fact, I can't imagine how she ever got elected. (Or, as the governor's mistress, did she somehow get appointed?)
3. The dialog is sometimes so rapid-fire as to be unintelligible. In some scenes, notably early scenes between Sunjata's Win Garano (D.A.'s investigator) and Ashley Williams' "Stump" (cop), the conversation runs faster than that of some Harvard students I once knew, as if director Tom McLoughlin is trying to squeeze in all the words in the time allotted.
In short, this movie is probably not the easiest one with which to familiarize one's self with the work of Partricia Cornwell.
