Translating a best-selling book into a movie is never easy.
But the producers of "Undue Influence" have done a good job of bringing Steve Martini's best seller to the screen. (The two-part, four-hour adaptation airs Sunday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. on CBS/Ch. 5.)Oh, purists may quibble a bit. Brian Dennehy is considerably older than lawyer Paul Madriani, the character he plays, was in the book. The setting has been changed. A few characters have been dropped, as have a few of the plot lines.
But "Undue Influence" has a good cast, a good script and enough twists and turns to keep viewers interested through all four hours.
Paul is a man still mourning the death of his wife and trying to raise his young daughter alone. Fulfilling his wife's request, he's looking after her sister, Laurel (Patricia Richardson of "Home Improvement"). And Laurel is involved in a vicious custody dispute with her sleazy state senator ex-husband (Richard Masur) and his bimbo second wife (Allison Mackie).
The next thing Paul knows, the second wife is murdered and Laurel is the prime suspect.
Somehow tied into the killing are some mysterious neighbors and a U.S. attorney (Jean Smart of "Designing Women"), with whom Paul becomes romantically involved.
Those who've read the book will find the essence of the material here. And those who haven't read the book won't even notice anything is missing.
Dennehy, Richardson and Smart are all good - and so is "Undue Influence."
LONDON LOVE BOAT: As the years go by, it's getting harder and harder to remember that Neil Simon was once a talented writer.
And inane tripe like the TV movie "London Suite" (Sunday, 8 p.m., Ch. 5) doesn't make it easier.
Apparently, Simon was attempting to recreate "Plaza Suite" and "California Suite." What he recreated was a bad episode of "The Love Boat."
(Although "bad episode" and "Love Boat" are redundant.)
"London Suite" is little more than an excuse to put a bunch of sitcom stars (past and present) in a film to try to grab some ratings. And, quite possibly, to get them a free vacation in England.
The various vignettes include:
- Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") and Patricia Clarkson as a divorced couple.
- Michael Richards ("Seinfeld") and Julie Hagerty as a tennis-obsessed couple.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Seinfeld") and Jonathan Silverman ("The Single Guy") as honeymooners.
- Madeline Kahn ("Cosby") and Margot Steinberg as a mother and daughter who get mixed up with an odd Scotsman (Richard Mulligan of "Empty Nest."
There's also Kristen Johnston of "3rd Rock from the Sun" and Jane Carr of "Dear John."
The only actor who survived the transition from off-Broadway to TV is Paxton Whitehead.
"London Suite" is mundane, unfunny, trite and predictable - a genuine waste of time.
And there isn't even an ocean view.