"Color of Night" is more notorious for what is not on the screen than what is. Quite a bit of the sex and nudity in this film was deleted, so the film could receive an R rating instead of the dreaded NC-17.
But what everyone seems to ignore in disputes like this is that if the movie is no good, it hardly matters. No amount of graphic sexual material could make "Color of Night" more interesting.
Now, a better script . . . .
Bruce Willis stars as a psychologist who has been traumatized because a patient jumped through his office window, which was way up there in a New York high-rise.
So, he heads for Los Angeles to be consoled by a friend and colleague (Scott Bakula), who just happens to conduct the weirdest weekly group session in the history of psychotherapy. Among the group patients are a kleptomaniac/-nymphomaniac (Lesley Ann Warren), a rough-and-tumble grieving widower (Lance Henriksen), an obsessive-compulsive bookish nerd (Brad Dourif), a psychotic painter (Kevin J. O'Connor) and a mannish young woman with a secret.
When Bakula is killed, apparently by a member of the group, Willis reluctantly takes over his practice — or his group, anyway — after some prodding by an overzealous homicide detective (Ruben Blades). And later, a sexy young woman (Jane March) enters the picture, apparently to provide sexual window-dressing, though she eventually figures in the mystery.
The problems here are many, but the worst is the plot itself, which is handled as a comedy-mystery, complete with goofy music whenever the group comes together for a session. The characters are thin at best, the plotting is completely illogical and after a short time, the mystery is obvious.
It's time Willis fired his agent. Or maybe it would help it he'd simply read the scripts before agreeing to star in the films.
"Color of Night" is rated R for violence, sex, nudity, profanity and vulgarity.