Play Murder for Me

Rating:
Summary: "He Made Her Sing. She Made Him Die."
Review: Catching one of Paul Slater's (Jack Wagner) jazz shows in a Buenos Aires nightclub, a millionaire and jazz fan named Fred Merritt (William Burns) invites him to play at one of his mansion parties. Unbeknown to Fred, Paul had been lovers with his wife, Tricia Merritt (Tracy Scoggins), five years ago, before she left Paul for Fred, due to Paul's overzealous drinking. Not surprisingly, Paul and Tricia hook up about halfway through the movie, making for some steamy scenes and sexual innuendoes on his tenor sax.

While at the above-mentioned party, Fred is shot, which paralyzes him from the legs down (I'm assuming it's not from the waist down, since he has some function of that area, as I mention below) and confines him to a wheelchair for life. Consequently, Fred does a 180 personality change and becomes highly suspicious of his wife's activities, as well as those around him. He's eager to get revenge on the person who did this to him, so he hires a private investigator/hitman to find him/her, leaving a long blood trail of possible suspects.

Most of the characters in "Play Murder For Me" are pretty seedy and unsympathetic, namely the two male leads: Paul, an alcoholic has-been, and Fred, a paranoid rapist. Tricia I didn't really have a problem with, but the thing that bothered me the most was her out-of-character reaction when her handicapped husband rapes her. The scene was totally unbelievable, almost laughable if it weren't so abusive. Sure, the guy's built for his age, but Tricia is no weakling either. She could have held her own (which is seen at the ending) if they'd kept to her character.

The ending's not too surprising either, seeing how they've given a really big "clue" in the tagline. But if you're looking for an adequate B-grade erotic thriller with a jazz theme, then "Play Murder For Me" certainly delivers--sex/nudity, murder, music, and all.

Rating:
Summary: Steamy 80s Soap Stars star in Movie
Review: First, I am a Jack Wagner fan; so, I liked the movie just for that reason. The movie stars two Aaron Spelling soap stars and the movie is much like a cable soap opera. The combination of no chemistry between the stars, dark sets, cheap jazz music, and steamy night scenes make for a great made for tv type movie. Not for someone who is not a fan of either star.