Separate Lives

1995 "She hired him to watch her."
4.9| 1h42m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 08 September 1995 Released
Producted By: Trimark Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Tom Beckwith has just quit his job as a police officer in order to study psychology. But his professor, Lauren Porter, is more interested in his criminology abilities than in his progress in psychology. Because of traumatic circumstances during her childhood she is suffering from schizophrenia, and it looks like her other ego has just killed somebody. So Tom Beckwith tries to help her by observing her, combining his professional abilities as an ex-cop and his recently gained knowledge of psychology.

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Director

David Madden

Production Companies

Trimark Pictures

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Separate Lives Audience Reviews

Mjeteconer Just perfect...
Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
Cleveronix A different way of telling a story
Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Bezenby James Belushi is an ex-cop turned psychology student, hired by his tutor (Linda Hamilton) to monitor her behaviour, since she's been having blackouts. She's more worried about the recent murder of someone she knew, and that the murder weapon has seemingly turned up at her house. Our boy James, a widow with a daughter, sets out to find out the truth. Well, it turns out the during the day Linda is a proper college professor with morals and such like, but at night she's a scantily clad, chain smoking nympho who hangs around in nightclubs with bad actors with crap accents. She never remembers what happens the next day, so did she kill somebody during one of these blackouts?Belushi tries to get to the bottom of things, tailing Linda and getting a kicking off some people, introducing himself to the other Linda and such like. The film occasionally slides into giallo territory with a black gloved killer and references to a past trauma, and is all the better for it, and I can't fault Belushi or Hamilton, but a little more action would have been welcome. It's also quite easy to peg what's going on. Still, for folks that want to see Linda Hamilton in skimpy dresses, putting the moves on people and swearing – this is the film for you. Be warned though - this film sat in my collection for years before I got round to watching it. It's just that kind of film.
Bjorn (ODDBear) Former Detective Belushi is hired by his Psychology teacher (Hamilton) to follow her around as she believes she's living a double life. Belushi finds out she is indeed living a double life as his teacher is schizophrenic and her second lifestyle is a dangerous one. In the meantime they fall for each other.A decent enough story gets mediocre screen treatment, starts off well but loses steam towards the end and the climax is wholly unsatisfying. The actors elevate the film to above average material with convincing performances, Belushi especially good as the widowed former detective. But I must mention that Linda Hamilton, in addition to giving a good performance, has never looked more stunning than here.With a slightly better script and ending the film could have been very good.
Steve Gough Not so long ago I was watching Terminator 2 on DVD and thinking "Linda Hamilton WAS the sexiest screen actress of the 1990s!". Some Hollywood high-roller obviously agreed, and tragically this unerotic, mediocre thriller was born. There is, it has to be said, a lot to be said for sweat, glycerine and extreme body-sculpting. Re-packaged as a low budget "rock chick" in rubber-band miniskirts and chromed leather jacket, Linda looks disappointingly like a what a middle-aged movie executive's secretary wears in his dreams. And whatever happened to James Belushi? A former Arnie co-star, like Linda, in the 80's he was the dependable face of action movies that couldn't afford Bruce Willis. This predictable pot-boiler is not a career high for either. James is let down by the director, often looking wooden, and Linda's split personality psychotherapist swings from a reprise of "Sarah Connor on Thorazine" in T2 to her unconvincing rock-chick alter-ego. The twist in the tail murderer is obvious from the moment "Laura's" flashbacks begin. I was ill, I was stuck in bed, and this was the most watchable thing on TV last night. Shame on me, I had a book to read, and shame on the TV schedulers too.
gridoon Nothing really noteworthy enough here to comment on; just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, middling mystery thriller. The mystery plot keeps you watching, but it relies almost exclusively on the all-important Final Revelation of the Childhood Trauma, and when there are almost no thrills along the way, a viewer can get really impatient (even Hitchcock failed that way, in "Marnie"). James Belushi sleepwalks through his role without any zest, but Linda Hamilton gets to show off - on many occasions - her impressively "sculpted" body, and also some moderate acting talent, though the rapid transformations of her character become a little silly in the final 30 minutes. (**)