The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1995 film)
The Man Who Wouldn't Die is a 1995 action mystery film by director Bill Condon. The film, which aired as a movie of the week during the May Sweeps in 1995, stars Roger Moore, Nancy Allen and Malcolm McDowell. Internationally, it received either a theatrical or direct-to-video release.[1]
The Man Who Wouldn't Die | |
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![]() Roger Moore and Nancy Allen in a scene from The Man Who Wouldn't Die. | |
Directed by | Bill Condon |
Produced by | Mark Gordon Bill Condon Alan Barnette |
Written by | Don Shroll David Amann |
Starring | Roger Moore Nancy Allen Malcolm McDowell Eric McCormack |
Music by | David Shire |
Cinematography | Stephen M. Katz |
Edited by | Virginia Katz |
Distributed by | Universal |
Release date | May 29, 1995 |
Running time | 98 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Synopsis
In The Man Who Wouldn't Die art imitates life for Thomas Grace (Roger Moore), a famous British ex-novelist who wrote a series of acclaimed crime stories featuring a villain patterned after real-life criminal Bernard Drake (Malcolm McDowell). Now living in America, Grace works as a hack reporter for a city newspaper. After reading one of Grace's books, Jessie Gallardo (Nancy Allen), a waitress with burgeoning psychic abilities, predicts several murders—with Grace as one of the victims. Her visions identify the enemy as Drake, who has escaped from prison by faking his own death in a fire. As Drake sets out to frame the author for a series of grisly murders based around his novels, it is up to Thomas and Jessie to clear their names, stop him, and stay alive in the process. Eric McCormack co-stars as a doubtful newspaper colleague.[2]
Cast
- Roger Moore ... Thomas Grace / Inspector Fulbright
- Nancy Allen ... Jessie Gallardo
- Malcolm McDowell ... Bernard Drake / Ian Morrissey
- Jackson Davies ... Lt. Powers
- Eric McCormack ... Jack Sullivan
- Roman Podhora ... Walter Tilley
- Gillian Barber ... Art Sycophant
- Roger R. Cross ... McKinnon
- Kevin McNulty ... Curruthers
Reviews
- From the BBC's Radio Times 1995 - 3 stars:
Why aren't there more TV movies with the same dark sense of fun as this one? Take one crime novelist, have him meet a waitress (who is also a medium) and have her announce that the supposedly dead villain on whom he based one of his characters is not only very much alive, but is busy re-enacting the killings his monarchy-mad murderer perpetrated on the page. Cracking stuff, directed at full tilt by Bill Condon and with splendidly hammy performances from Roger Moore, Malcolm McDowell and Nancy Allen. This is surely worth an hour and a half of anyone's time.[3]
The Youngstown Vindicator said the film was "thoroughly enjoyable" and "as polished and as surprising as any good mystery drama can provide".[4]
References
- "'THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T DIE,' ROGER MOORE'S FIRST TELEVISION MOVIE IN 16 YEARS, BEGINS PRODUCTION TODAY FOR UNIVERSAL TELEVISION" - ABC
- "The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1995) Malcolm McDowell, Roger Moore, Nancy Allen". Malcolmtribute.freeiz.com. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
- "The Man Who Wouldn't Die:ABC keeps movie for sweeps". The Youngstown Vindicator. May 29, 1995.