This is How Movies Should Be Made

Overrated and overhyped

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Stepping into the place of Raymond Burr after his demise is Paul Sorvino who made his one and only appearance as opera loving gourmet attorney Anthony Caruso. As we see in the opening he operates like Perry Mason as he gets a confession and the evidence on the real murderer.Right after that Caruso is retained by Kathy Ireland the fifth and current wife of Eric Braeden who is a world famous fashion photographer who has seen his better days. But Braeden is planning a comeback and he's going to shoot a new show with five models whom he made world famous icons. Like Ireland, the other four have been his wives as well.But when Braeden is murdered it's Ireland who Detective James McEachin of the Denver PD arrests. Now Sorvino is Ireland's attorney and he gets the use of Perry Mason's office along with Barbara Hale and William R. Moses. There's never any explanation of what happened to Perry Mason.William R. Moses has an especially bad time in this story trying to track down a witness whose relationship to one of the ex-wives is the key to the whole case. He has to go into the Brokeback Mountain country and be at the mercy of some cowboys who are definitely not Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.Although I liked Sorvino apparently either he did not want to do a series or the viewers didn't take to him because Hal Holbrook came in with a different character.Probably folks would accept no other in Perry Mason's shoes.

***SPOILERS*** With the passing of actor Raymond Burr Perry Mason was written out of the script with Perry going to Washing D.C to be confirmed by the US Congress as the next Supreme Court Justice. In Perry's big shoes there stepped in the opera singing defense attorney Anthony Caruso, Paul Sorvino, who can not only sing up a storm but cook,in being a master Italian chef, up one as well!It's when Caruso gets the news that his good friend fashion photographer David Morrison, Eric Braeder, needed him to get his former top models as well as wives together to do a photo shoot that will very possibly get him out of bankruptcy he jumped at the offer! It was David's latest wife Dee, Kathy Ireland, who got Caruso to take up the case of contacting his former wives Abby Jane Shelly and Nina, Shelly Hack Beverly Johnson Maud Adams and Kim Alexis, whom he was also involved in their divorcing proceedings against his client David!During the middle of his photo shoot Dee became very annoyed at David when she spotted his assistant Margo, Paula Marshell,leave his private dressing room buttoning up her blouse indicating that he was involved in some hanky panky with her. Sure enough that evening David ended up dead with a sword through his chest with the woman spotted leaving his studio identified,from behind, as his outraged wife Dee! It's now up to Caruso to forget about helping David out in his finances, since by being dead he doesn't need his help anymore, but to get his wife Dee off on a murder charge in being the person who did David in!The movie soon leads to the great outdoors where Margo and her cowboy boyfriend Cutter, Yargo Constantine, are hold up which at first doesn't seem to make any sense in David being murdered! It up to human punching bag and Caruso's news assistant Ken Malansky,William R.Moses, to track down the pair with the help of local cowboy Big Red, Ron Headlee, to show Manansky the ropes in him surviving in the wild! Malansjky doesn't let the audience down with him getting a far worse beating, from all sides, then you would have expected him too as well as, by riding for days at a time, a serious case of saddle sores!****SPOILERS*** It's Caruso,after he took time to stop both singing and eating, who in the end uncovered the reason behind David's murder. As usual it had to do with David's unfeeling and selfish lifestyle where he not only took the women that he married, Abby Jane Shelly & Nina,for a ride but also their, and his, family members as well! In this case it was someone so close to him that if David had any brains in his head as well as just plain common sense he would have known who that person was as soon as he laid eyes on her!

I think the humor in this movie, although it's not really supposed to be humorous per say, was up there. I think this movie was incredible with Paul Sorvino in the lead role. Raymond Burr was greatly missed, but the supporting cast did a wonderful job. Especially Moses! Moses's Ken Malansky found himself in a lot of sticky situations which added humor to the movie. I think Barbara Hale, although she wasn't in it enough, did an awesome job playing her part. There was proof of team work here and Hale and Moses make an awesome team. I don't think they could've done better than this really. God bless the both of them for trying!

Mr. Sorvino was great in the type of role that Raymond Burr began and I expect many even before him. I must admit that as a first time in the PM format I looked forward to more. the character was just beginning to be developed and he was charming to all and talents without [it appeared] limits. Too bad the network or the producers or the writers or whoever is responsible didn't see that this character was worth pursuing. Many long time viewers may have been questioning because Mr Burr was so fully ensconsed in the role, but Mr. Sorvino's character could have been a second rate copy or a first rate new version. I thought it could have been truly first rate. Too bad it was one and done.