Murphy’s Law ** (1986, Charles Bronson, Kathleen Wilhoite, Carrie Snodgress) – Classic Movie Review 8730

Director J Lee Thompson’s 1986 film Murphy’s Law is a routine and violent neo noir cop thriller, with a hand-me-down plot from 48 hrs and The Gauntlet, which has the stoney-faced Charles Bronson, aged 65, as a tough veteran LA police detective called  Jack Murphy.

Framed for the murder of his ex-wife, he escapes from jail handcuffed to foul-mouthed, streetwise teenage crook Arabella McGee (Kathleen Wilhoite), the juvenile delinquent who stole his car. Bronson leaves an impressive trail of bodies in the quest to prove his innocence.

[Spoiler alert] In an unwelcome piece of sexual equality, a woman – Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress) – turns out to be the loony murderer. Luckily, female serial killers are very rare.

Murphy’s Law, written by Gail Morgan Hickman, is nasty stuff, but director Thompson, Bronson’s regular collaborator, does stir up some conventional action-packed thriller excitements.

Of course Murphy’s Law states: if anything can go wrong it will – so be warned!

Also in the cast are Robert F Lyons, Richard Romanus, Angel Tomkins, Bill Henderson, James Luisi, Clifford A. Pellow, Janet MacLachlan and Lawrence Tierney.

RIP Charles Bronson (Charles Buchinsky) (1921–2003). Just because of him, Murphy’s Law could be called a cult film.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8730

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