‘Alibi’ Could Use An Excuse Of Its Own

Sat., March 15, 1997

Faye Zuckerman New York Times Syndicate

The ABC movie “Alibi,” Sunday at 9, and freeze-dried food have much in common: They both lack flavor and define bland at its blandest.

“Alibi” bills itself as a psychological thriller, but the thrills never materialize as Tori Spelling plays an injured Olympic skier who enters into a telephone relationship. Soon she’s wrapped up in a murder case when the caller’s wife is murdered during one of their many conversations.

You can guess early on what the anonymous caller (Jason Brooks) is up to and just how dumb Spelling’s character is. Jocks may resent this movie’s implication that they lack intelligence.

Is there any reason to watch this run-of-the-mill tale? Not really. Unless you’ve been missing Michael Tucker (the beloved Stuart Markowitz on “L.A. Law”), stay away.

Highlights

“Dangerous Minds,” ABC tonight at 8: In a powerful hour, Louanne (Annie Potts) is suspended. Her hugging of a student is misinterpreted and Louanne’s students cause even more problems for her during the subsequent investigation.

“NCAA Basketball Tournament,” CBS today and Sunday at 9 a.m.: College hoop fans can watch some nine hours of second-round play coverage today and seven hours on Sunday.

“Sports on the Silver Screen,” HBO Sunday at 8: This unique documentary taps actors, directors and athletes to comment on how Hollywood has portrayed sports. The 90-minutes feature clips from some 150 movies.

“Bridge of Time” (1997), ABC tonight at 9: A U.N. relief worker (Susan Dey), a photographer (Cotter Smith) and a gun-toting businessman (Robert Whitehead) stumble upon a secret utopian society in Africa.

Life in their mystical city gives little excitement to the notion of an ideal existence. You’ll want to go running for better horizons when these folks attempt to give an updated knockoff of “Lost Horizon.”

Cicely Tyson makes an appearance as the spiritual leader of the hidden city.

“Stolen Women: Captured Hearts” (1997), CBS Sunday at 9: Two white women (Janine Turner and Jean Louisa Kelly) are kidnapped by a tribe of Sioux in 1868. Turner eventually falls in love with one of her abductors, a chief hopeful (Michael Greyeyes).

Between scenes of her husband’s (Patrick Bergin) tireless search (Gen. George Custer, played by William Shockley, is called in to help track down the women), Turner learns a new way of life and finds romance.

You’ll find, however, that this period soap opera lacks romantic motivation: You’re left wondering why a Native American leader would fall for a wimpy white woman, and you’ll wonder how a respectable woman could fall for her kidnapper.

The movie is only believable if one subscribes to the notion that all women secretly want to be manhandled and taken advantage of by violent men. It’s sexist, and that is one reason to avoid it.

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