I like dick as much as the next guy, but I don't like Chad Allen as private dick Don Strachey in the here! network occasional series that tries to do for gays what Murder She Wrote did for seniors.
Except for having a gay actor playing a gay leading character, this is an old-school TV crime show, but with each episode long enough to fill a 90-minute programming slot and later be marketed as a DVD feature.
On the Other Hand Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery is the third in the series. On the plus side is the cinematography by C. Kim Miles, which is so good it emphasizes the weakness of the other technical contributions. On the other hand...
The screenplay by Gillian Horvath and Ron McGee, based on a novel by Richard Stevenson, picks up some steam in the second act, between a meandering first act and a dénouement so confusing you can probably watch it several times without knowing who did what and why.
The main attraction, and not a total disappointment, is the appearance of Margot Kidder, who looks like she's ready to do Hush Hush, Baby Jane, or some such. She plays Dorothy, the dominant half of a longtime lesbian couple, who lives in a remote upstate New York farmhouse with Edith ( Gabrielle Rose ) .
A guidance counselor at the local high school, Dorothy has been controversial since coming out last year. Now someone is vandalizing their house, throwing bricks through the window and writing "DYKES GO HOME!" on the living room wall.
Strachey ( Allen ) is introduced being arrested for interfering with an undercover police investigation by following Gina Santer ( Lori Ann Triolo ) . He said he was hired by a mysterious client who claimed to be her husband.
The plot that develops involves buying up land for redevelopment, a plan stymied by Dorothy's refusal to sell their home; so it's possible that community antagonism against her isn't strictly due to lesbophobia.
Even before the plots connect up Don is introduced to the women's situation by Andrew McWhirter ( Damon Runyan ) , the ex of his partner, Tim Callahan ( Sebastian Spence ) . The potential for Don to be jealous gets flipped when Andrew makes a pass at him while skinny-dipping at night in the New York winter. Where do you begin to deconstruct the absurdities in this scene?
Because details are so important in a mystery, small inconsistencies loom larger here. Don calls Tim in the morning after being interrogated by the police for six hours. Tim doesn't ask why he wasn't home all night, just reminds him they're supposed to go to a school board meeting later that day. Edith is a secret smoker who ditches a cigarette when Dorothy comes along ( "She thinks I quit" ) , and Dorothy gets close without smelling it on her breath. Don't try that in my home!
Performances are generally in the mediocre range. It's hard to believe Allen is the same actor who was much more effective in Save Me. Nelson Wong stands out as Don's intern, Kenny, mainly because he gets tighter closeups than anyone else, perhaps because the cinematographer is a fellow Asian. ( I'm not complaining. He looks good in the close-ups. )
Ron Oliver has directed all four Donald Strachey mysteries to date and seems to have learned from a 20-year career in television on how to get by with the least amount of creativity.
On the Other Hand, Death is an example of the attitude that we're so starved for queer content we'll devour anything gay. That may have been true once but hopefully it's no longer the case, or if it is, it's a case Donald Strachey should investigate.
