Several years ago, I saw D.O.A. on video when my mother rented it. I liked the movie when I saw it then, and I’ve continued to enjoy it when I catch it on television. The movie was a murder mystery with a twist. I thought it was an entertaining, good movie that was worth watching.

PLOT

A man went to a police station to report a murder. He told the police that he wanted to report his murder. The movie jumped back a few days.

Dexter Cornell was an English professor who had written a novel. He stopped writing a few years before. He and his wife Gail were in the process of getting divorced. One of his students wrote a novel and was bugging Dexter about reading it. He didn’t feel like reading it, so it just gave it an A. The student who wrote the novel turned up dead. Dexter felt like he had to read it then. He told his friend Hal, another professor, that he didn’t have to be sober to read it though.

That night Dexter went out to a night club and was drinking a lot. He met Sydney, one of his students there. They started talking and she was drinking with him. The next morning, Dexter woke up in her dorm room, not remembering exactly what happened the night before. Sydney left him in her room because she had to get to a class. Dexter felt horrible and thought it was more than just a hangover. He went to see a doctor he knew to find out what was going on.

Dexter got very bad news. He had been poisoned. The poison had already started to spread. If there had been an antidote, it would be too late to use it. Dexter was told that he didn’t have long to live, only twenty-four to forty-eight hours. He wanted to know who had poisoned him. He went to see Gail to talk to her, but he wasn’t able to because something else had happened. Dexter thought that Sydney might have been involved in what happened since he had spent so much time with her the night before. She said she didn’t know anything about what happened, but he didn’t fully believe her. He glued himself to her, so she had to go along with him as he tried to figure out who poisoned him.

CAST

Dennis Quaid - Dexter Cornell
Meg Ryan - Sydney Fuller
Daniel Stern - Hal Petersham
Jane Kaczmarek - Gail Cornell
Christopher Neame - Bernard
Brion James - Detective Ulmer

Jack Kehoe - Detective Brockton

Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton - Directors

D.O.A. was made in 1988 and rated R. The movie was 96 minutes long. I did some looking, and as far as I could find, D.O.A. is only available on VHS or laserdisc. It hasn’t been released on DVD yet. The movie is shown on television every once in a while, though that version is edited. It has been a long time since I’ve seen the R-rated version, so I don’t remember how much swearing was in it. This is not a movie for children to see. This was a remake of an older movie with the same name. I have not seen the older movie, so I don’t know how close the new movie stayed to the original.

D.O.A. was a suspenseful murder mystery with a twist. Someone poisoned Dexter, effectively murdering him, but he would live for a few more days, giving him time to try to find out who murdered him. Usually when a person was murdered in a movie or book, it was done in a way so that the character died immediately instead of hanging on for a few days. Murder victims don’t typically have a chance to solve their own murders like Dexter did. That was unique. I thought that the movie was original when I first saw it. I found out later that it was a remake of an older movie. I still think the plot was original. There were some suspenseful scenes all through the movie. Dexter’s fate was never in question since there was no antidote for the poison, but there were other things to be resolved by the end of the movie. I was surprised by some things that happened.

The events of D.O.A. took place over just a few days. Most of the events took place after Dexter found out that he was going to die in another day or two. The plot started to move along faster at that point, and a lot of things happened during the course of the movie. There was also a subplot or two going on too, so the movie wasn’t simple. I didn’t think the movie was rushed at any point. A few scenes, especially near the beginning, did move a little slower, but they weren’t so slow that I found them boring. I was never bored when I was watching this movie.

The mystery in D.O.A. dealt with Dexter being poisoned. Who did it? How was it done? When was it done? Why was it done? Why would anyone want to kill Dexter? He wasn’t perfect, but he was an English professor. Who wants to kill an English professor? He didn’t do anything to anybody. Well, his soon to be ex-wife may not agree with that, but just because his marriage was ending didn’t mean that he should be killed. The divorce was not exactly a happy, fun filled time for them, but they were working things out. They were ready to sign the papers. The killer was revealed along with the motive. It did make sense in a strange sort of way. It didn’t seem like a normal motive, but once I thought about it some, I changed my mind about that. Though the killer had kind of flipped out a bit and was convinced that they were justified in doing what they did. Other characters besides Dexter were also killed.

There was violence in more than one scene of D.O.A. There were also some violent images. Dead bodies were found, and that wasn’t pleasant to see. At one time, Dexter and Sydney were chased by someone with a nail gun. The movie wasn’t violent overall, and the scenes that did have some violence weren’t extreme. I don’t think those scenes would be upsetting, though it has been a while since I’ve seen the R-rated version, so it may be a lot more violent than I remember. People who don’t want to see violence at all in a movie shouldn’t see this one.

There was a small touch of romance in D.O.A., but the movie wasn’t filled with romance. This wasn’t a touching love story or a romantic comedy with a happy ending. Sydney was one of Dexter’s students, so they had known each other somewhat for a little while. They spent some time together drinking and talking. Once Dexter discovered what happened, he suspected that she was involved for a while. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight, so he actually glued his hand to her arm to keep her with him. They were attracted to each other and they did end up having sex. The scene didn’t seem too explicit, but again, I can’t remember how the scene was in the R-rated version. I don’t think there was any actual nudity in that version, but I could be wrong. People who don’t like to see sex scenes in a movie shouldn’t see this one.

There were a few black and white scenes in D.O.A. near the beginning and ending of the movie. At other times, there were some unique camera angles and lighting used. Some scenes were really bright, and others were darker and that made things look more sinister. There was music used in different scenes, but none of it really stood out to me.

I thought that the acting in D.O.A. was good. This was one of a few movies that Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan made together. I think they were dating when this movie was made. It was obvious that there was an attraction between them. They later went on to get married and have a son. They divorced a few years ago. They were also in the movie InnerSpace together. I think they met when making either that one or D.O.A., but I can’t remember for sure now. I thought that they were both good in their roles in this movie. This was an early role in Meg Ryan’s career, made before she became a huge star. This character was a bit different from the ones she would play in movies like French Kiss or When Harry Met Sally. Jane Kaczmarek had a few scenes as Gail. She is now on the television show Malcolm in the Middle. Daniel Stern only had a few scenes too. This was a more serious role for him, different than the parts he played in the first two Home Alone movies.

CHARACTERS

Dexter Cornell - He was an English professor who had written a book. He was in the process of getting a divorce from his wife Gail. One of his students turned up dead after Dexter decided not to read the student’s book. Dexter went out and got drunk. The next day he discovered that he had been poisoned and would die in another day or two. Dexter was determined to find out who had poisoned him. He had a temper at times and tended to drink too much at times.

Sydney Fuller - A student in one of Dexter’s classes. She spent some time with him the night before he found out he was dying. She ended up stuck to him for a while. She went though some dangerous things with him, but she managed to keep her sense of humor. She seemed to really care about Dexter.

Hal Petersham - Another professor. He was Dexter’s friend. Hal was working on his own book. He seemed to be having some trouble with it and got Dexter to help him.

Gail Cornell - Dexter’s soon to be ex-wife.

D.O.A. was a good movie that I really enjoyed. It is worth watching, especially for fans of Dennis Quaid or Meg Ryan.




Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older