Jack Reed: A Search for Justice (1994) (TV)

Director:

Brian Dennehy

Writers (WGA):

Brian Dennehy (written by) &
Bill Phillips (written by)

Release Date:

2 October 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Chicago police detective Jack Reed investigates the brutal murder of a stripper while he deals with corruption and bureaucracy within his own department.

Plot Keywords:

Directed By Star | Police | Sequel

Cast

Brian Dennehy	...	Jack Reed
Charles S. Dutton	...	Charles Silvera
Susan Ruttan	...	Arlene Reed
Joe Grifasi	...	Mike 'Gravedigger' Edwards
Charles Hallahan	...	Roy Galvin
Rex Linn	...	Dave
Miguel Ferrer	...	Win Carter
Michael Talbott	...	Eddie Dirkson
Amber Benson	...	Nicole Reed
Allison Mackie	...	Jewel
Justin Burnette	...	John Reed Jr.
Marjorie Monaghan	...	Lorelei Bradley
Michael C. Gwynne	...	Pete Myers
Ed Cambridge	...	Minister
Elizabeth Dennehy	...	Sara

Runtime:

90 min | Argentina:96 min | USA:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Kushner-Locke Company, The

Movie Connections:

Followed by Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance (1996) (TV)

Following Its Beginning As An Engaging Crime Melodrama, The Film Droops Into A Tired Rehash Of Socio-Cultural Themes.

An unsettled blend of action with drama marks this movie, the third endeavour by Brian Dennehy performing as Sergeant Jack Reed, a veteran Cook County (Chicago) Sheriff's Department homicide detective, with Dennehy additionally making his first directing stint while being credited as well for having written part of the screenplay, all in the service of a work that will frustrate a viewer who is biased toward intelligent cinema due to its ongoing lapses into hackneyed episodes, in spite of some moments of notably insightful as well as naturalistic dialogue. The first Jack Reed feature, DEADLY MATRIMONY, establishes the character as a Sheriff's Department freethinker who, in that picture, singlehandedly brings about the downfall, due to corruptness, of a high-ranking Department official, and in A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE, Reed discovers to his keen displeasure that he has been blocked from promotion to the rank of Lieutenant as a result of his honesty (considered as disloyalty by his peers), with his Detective partner being advanced over him because of "race norming", but the two nonetheless work effectively together as they attempt to solve a homicide, the victim a pregnant stripper (Marjorie Monaghan) whose day-time job is as a successful, albeit rather unbelievable, day care center operator, based at her trailer park home. In his initial directorial outing, Dennehy provides an able effort, in the face of a script that is heavily laden with cliché, not an unusual condition for a film produced expressly for television. Miguel Ferrer utilizes his lines to capably create his role of a man who desires more from life than he is likely to ever obtain from his comfortably established business and domestic relationships. A more inventive and less bromidic scenario, one that would have included a realistic approach to law enforcement procedures, would have been needed to lift this piece a notch.