Don’t Bother To Finish ‘An Unfinished Affair’
“Beverly Hills, 90210” nice-girl Jennie Garth tries to act against type in the psychological thriller “An Unfinished Affair,” ABC Sunday at 9.
Garth plays a girl spurned who hatches a nefarious plot to get even with her former married lover (Tim Matheson). Matheson spends much of the movie standing around pouting as Garth puts on her best Joan Collins impersonation in this slow-moving revenge tale.
Matheson’s poor-me act and Garth’s wanna-be vixen performance combine to create a parody of a thriller rather than the real thing. It’s hard not to titter when Garth shoots off lines such as: “What do you think I am? Some kind of a psycho?”
“Affair” is all scenery - beautifully decorated houses, wide open spaces and great clothes, but like freeze-dried food, you’re left feeling empty. If you’re in search of trashy substantial fiction and even better scenery, switch over to Dominick Dunne’s “A Season in Purgatory” (1996) CBS Sunday and Tuesday at 9.
Brian Dennehy is brilliant as the powerful patriarch of a filthy-rich Connecticut family. He loves to throw his weight around almost as much as he enjoys sprinkling his money out as bribes.
Gerald Bradley (Dennehy) is a dialing-for-dollars Dad whose lack of morals has been passed onto his children, especially his son Constant (Craig Sheffer). In Part 1, Bradley uses his wealth to shield Constant from prosecution after the young man murders a neighbor’s daughter.
Patrick Dempsey portrays Harrison Burns, the conscience of this four-hour-long tale. He helps Constant, his former prep school buddy, dispose of the body, and after 13 years of silence he decides to step forward. The parallels to high-profile celebrity trials, such as the William Kennedy Smith trial, and the similarities to the Kennedy lifestyle are aplenty.
Dunne has become a master at portraying the powerful and wealthy with razor-sharp cynicism and a few clever asides. Here he proves his expertise.
Highlights
“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” CBS Saturday at 8: The hour is full of tension and controversy as Cloud Dancing takes the blame for the shooting of a soldier. The power of the press comes into play when Preston tries to stop the presses on Dorothy’s editorial about the incident.
“Sisters,” NBC Saturday at 9: Those battling siblings contend with old rivalries and jealousies in a maudlin finale about the death of their mother, Bea (Elizabeth Hoffman).
“Comic Relief’s American Comedy Festival,” ABC Saturday at 10: The network has an hour’s worth of kneeslappers from the 10th anniversary Comic Relief fund-raiser. Whoopi Goldberg steals the show.
“Rudy Coby: Ridiculously Dangerous,” FOX Sunday at 7: Hightech illusionist Rudy Coby uses his magical powers and sense of humor to escape from an 8-foot egg; make a truck vanish; and survive a tank full of piranhas.
“Mad About You,” NBC Sunday at 8 (approximate time after basketball): Too much honesty may just ruin the Buchmans’ marriage in the first of the season’s final episodes, which takes on a serious tone.
“Murder, She Wrote,” CBS Sunday at 8: Seth’s niece returns to Cabot Cove to announce her engagement. Guess who ends up dead? Her fiance. It sounds like Fletcher has much to do before she hangs up her magnifying glass.
“The Fugitive” (1993), NBC Sunday at 8:30: Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones turn the big-screen tale of television’s Dr. Richard Kimble into a nonstop chase-action movie.