Dennis Quaid is trying to find his own killer after falling victim to a slow-acting poison, in this colourful remake of an old film noir, with black-and-white `bookends' topping and tailing the film. The side of the story that involves Charlotte Rampling is the most interesting, but unnecessary plot complexities towards the end almost confound the viewer for presuming to beat Quaid to the answers. Quaid himself, coming on here like a combination of Jack Nicholson and Alan Ladd, is really pretty good and Meg Ryan just great as the student who reluctantly helps Prof Quaid root out the truth. Directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel fill the screen with too many flashy shots, but the thriller aspects of the film are well handled, with a good assortment of noir types, including Rampling, Daniel Stern, Christopher Neame, Robin Johnson and Brion James. True addicts of the genre should have no trouble spotting the real killer.

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