Blackout (TV Movie 1985)

Blackout (TV Movie 1985). 1h 40m

“A grisly murder occurs in Ohio in which a woman and her three children are murdered. It has occurred during the youngest childu0026#39;s birthday celebration, and the murderer has posed the children, with their motheru0026#39;s arms around them, and birthday celebration hats on the kidsu0026#39; heads. Seasoned detective Joe Steiner (Richard Widmark) is the homicide detective on the case, obviously shaken by the murder scene. The husband of the family, Ed Vincent, is missing and is the prime suspect in the case.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMeanwhile, in Washington state, there is a car accident resulting in a fiery crash. One passenger is killed and burned beyond recognition. The other (Keith Carridine) is thrown clear of the wreckage and survives, but is badly burned and will need extensive facial reconstructive surgery. He has completely lost his memory and no ID is found at the accident site. The police do some tracing and figure that one of the occupants is named u0026quot;Alan Devlinu0026quot;. That is the name that the survivor takes, although he can find nobody in the town or surrounding area who knows him or why he is there. He spends a year in the hospital, falls in love with his nurse, Chris (Kathleen Quinlan), and they marry. They have a child of their own plus her two kids from a previous marriage. Alan becomes a very successful realtor and seven years pass.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBack in Ohio, Steiner was forcibly retired from his job, but he continues to work on the murder case from seven years before. Then one day he gets an anonymous letter saying that Devlin may be his man. Accompanying the note is an article from the local paper showing Devlin and family – Alan won realtor of the year in his town. The age is right, the height and general appearance are right, but of course he canu0026#39;t be exactly physically identified because of the extensive plastic surgery. So Steiner is off to Washington to see if Devlin is in fact Ed Vincent, the suspect in the Ohio murder case. Realize that the ability to analyze DNA evidence did not exist in 1985 or else this would have been a very short movie. Lots of complications and twists and turns ensue.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI loved Richard Widmarku0026#39;s character (who said all the things the audience was probably thinking.) Keith Carradine is always good at playing affable family men, and his role here is no exception. This was an early HBO effort at filmmaking and Iu0026#39;d say they did well.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeveral people pick on different aspects of this one, but I had only one major sticking point that really has no impact on the plot. When in the hospital, Alan Devlin has no ID, no name, no memory, and thus no health insurance that can be identified. And the first thing out of the doctorsu0026#39; mouths is all about the extensive plastic surgery theyu0026#39;ll be doing with obviously no insurance to pay for it? Not now and certainly not in 1985 if we are talking about any hospital in the United States. Any hospital in America would leave you on the curb looking like Frankensteinu0026#39;s monster if you have no means of payment. But then weu0026#39;d have no movie.”