A snoozer...

Deconstructing Sarah

Made-for-TV (1994)

Sheila Kelley stars with her fellow L.A. Law alum A Martinez in this thriller about a woman with a secret. Kelley is Sarah, an up-and-coming advertising exec who just happens to dress in... how shall we say... in order to make Al Sharpton angry -- in ho-type clothing when she leaves her cushy pad and heads out for a particular bar that doesn't exactly jive with who this woman is in the office. The "Hell Hole" or whatever it was called isn't the type of place she'd wear her Gucci heels and proper business suit to. No, Sarah becomes Ruth, leaving her BMW at home while she rents a middle class Chrysler, heading out in her leather mini all vamped up on the hunt for some man meat. Yeah, that's about right. She's living two lives, in a way and why she does all this, we're not exactly told. Out one night she meets the all-around bad boy Kenny (Martinez.) They hook up but she's not looking for love with this guy, just fun. Things take a turn for the worse and Kenny's threatening and blackmailing Ruth/Sarah and then one day she just disappears. All of a sudden Sarah (Sheila Kelley) is no longer in the movie. But wait a minute... Sarah was the main character here. Earlier we were introduced to Sarah's best friend, Elizabeth (Rachel Ticotin), who now has the spotlight as she searches for her missing friend. In the end we find out what happened and that's that. Yawn. So much yawn that I am uninspired to spend a few extra moments trying to write a better review. This was a thriller? A mystery? A little of both? What the heck was wrong with Sarah? Why's the guy who offed her commit the crime? Why does any man wanna kill a woman? Do so many who do really think they're gonna get away with it? All I know is -- if you're gonna kill a woman, be a man and don't kill yourself, too. Face the police, waste taxpayer money with a trial, tell the world why you did it, do your time, and maybe in a more perfect world you won't be executed and while you're spending life behind bars you'll come to know Christ allowing you to help others who are also behind bars. If you just go and blow your own brains out, well, you're a coward and it really sucks you'll be spending an eternity in Hell. Okay?