Weak Acting Mars ‘Divided By Hate’
Tom Skerritt stars in “Divided By Hate” (USA at 9), a disturbing but mainly ineffective fact-based drama.
Skerritt, who also makes his directorial debut, plays the leader of a hate group that coerces a young housewife (Andrea Roth) and her children to leave her husband (Dylan Walsh) and join his cult.
What the made-for-cable movie does best is show intimidation and brainwashing tactics used by fanatics who claim to be guided by God.
Skerritt’s character gets the woman to join his group by falsely informing her that her unemployed spouse has been having an affair. The anti-Semitic rhetoric is also quite chilling.
But Skerritt has been given very little to work with. Walsh is uncommonly brittle, and Roth affects the same dull emotional reactions at nearly every turn.
Most of the supporting players fail to deliver convincing performances - a persistent and distracting problem.
Even Skerritt is ineffectual, making speeches and barking orders but never fleshing out his character.
“Divided By Hate” makes its point. But it falls short of conveying the true ugliness of its topic and never getting to the roots of its villain’s hatred.
Highlights
“Baseball,” NBC at 5: Cleveland and Florida meet in Cleveland for Game 4 of the World Series.
“Spin City,” ABC at 8: The series addresses racism. Carter (Michael Boatman) is arrested when police mistake him for a mugging suspect.
In truth, he was collared simply because he was black - a fact the mayor’s office initially tries to sidestep.
“The Nanny,” CBS at 8: Fran (Fran Drescher) decides to make a little extra cash by being C.C.’s (Lauren Lane) dog walker. But she’s looking at a net loss when the pup is abducted by a dognapper who demands $20,000 ransom.
“The G.I. Bill: The Law That Changed America,” KSPS at 7: The hour traces the legacy of the 1944 legislation that gave veterans their shot at the American Dream. Among those benefited who appear: Art Buchwald, Tony Curtis, Harry Belafonte and Federal Reserve Board member Andrew Brimmer.
“Murphy Brown,” CBS at 8:30: Murphy (Candice Bergen) tells her son Avery (Haley Joel Osment) about her breast cancer as she prepares for surgery.
“Dharma & Greg,” ABC at 8:30: Threatened by Greg’s (Thomas Gibson) old girlfriend (Eliza Coyle), Dharma (Jenna Elfman) decides she has to find the former flame a husband of her own. (At 9:30, ABC pre-empts “Ellen” with a repeat of the “Dharma” pilot episode.)
“Chicago Hope,” CBS at 10: A pedophile (Frederic Lane) asks Kronk (Peter Berg) to castrate him. Grad (Jayne Brook) has to deliver bad news to an HIV-positive teen (Mena Suvari).
Cable Calls
“Intimate Portrait: Dr. Susan Love,” LIFE at 7: Love, a celebrated breast-cancer specialist, is profiled.
The hour examines her career as well as her personal battle, with her lesbian lover and their child, to become a “legal” family in a landmark joint-adoption case.
“The Watcher in the Woods” (1980), DISN at 10:15: Bette Davis, David McCallum and Carroll Baker star in the story of an American couple who rent a cottage in Britain, where their daughter (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is tormented by a creature watching her from the nearby woods.
A mangled ending (the curiously lighthearted film was re-cut twice after its initial release) is evidence that this one slipped out of control.
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:35: Actor Mel Gibson, Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles and singer Fiona Apple. Repeat.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 11:35: From previous broadcasts, actor Robin Williams, actor-director Mel Gibson and music group Pearl Jam.
“Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” ABC at 12:05 a.m.: Deborah Norville, actors Diedrich Bader and Bob Odenkirk, and clinical psychologist Dr. Arnold Nerenberg.
“The Late Late Show With Tom Snyder,” CBS at 12:35 a.m.: Mike Wallace (“60 Minutes”). Repeat.
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:35 a.m.: Actress Rosie Perez, actor Michael Rapaport and musical guest Wilco. Repeat.