An Occasional Hell (1996)

An Occasional Hell (1996). An Occasional Hell: Directed by Salomé Breziner. With Tom Berenger, Valeria Golino, Kari Wuhrer, Robert Davi. A former policeman-turned college professor of forensics, is asked by a widow to solve the murder of her unfaithful husband and the disappearance of his mistress who may have been linked to some drug dealers.

“BUT – I wanted to thank John Gartner of Portland for his hilarious (and sometimes educational) comments! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m not sure which Berenger film I saw first, but he has warmed the cockles of my heart (to be genteel) from the first. In this flick, the shot where he reveals to his lover the dirty little secret underneath his shirt was worth the whole movie! – See, we gals can salivate over just a hint of the rest of whatu0026#39;s there – or maybe itu0026#39;s just me, Iu0026#39;m an easy mark for a certain type of… ahem… torso, shall I say? But Iu0026#39;ll never understand why guys are even attracted to that Daisy Mae-type critter – so obvious, so over-the-top; and here, she was really, really annoying, and just wouldnu0026#39;t go away! I, for one liked Berengeru0026#39;s deceptively easy-going southern man characterization. It doesnu0026#39;t have to be revolutionary if it works. As for his crying scene, I didnu0026#39;t think it was bad at all, as it was sudden and unexpected. To me, it was his loveru0026#39;s reaction that came across as forced and unconvincing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat I like about this actor is that he often plays roles as what I consider a real man – heu0026#39;s a manu0026#39;s man, yet fully capable (sooner or later, often gradually) of connecting with a woman in a palpably tender way. If you think about it, there arenu0026#39;t many actors who can achieve this. Theyu0026#39;re either too intense at being tough to switch gears believably, or theyu0026#39;re too obsessed with being proper at all times…sorta like a lot of actual people…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo, I guess Iu0026#39;ll not heartily defend the script or the plot, etc., but I will vouch for Tom Berenger. In my book, he reliably adds quality to any film.”