The Sketch Artist is an unpretentious American thriller dating from 1992 and written by Michael Angeli, a capable screenwriter whose other credits include Monk. The film also benefits from the presence in the cast of two highly accomplished actors, namely Sean Young and Drew Barrymore. The lead actor, however, is the much less well-known Jeff Fahey, who plays a sketch artist called Jack Whitfield who is working for the police.
When a prominent fashion designer is murdered, a witness comes forward. She believes she can identify a woman at the scene who was involved with the crime. Jack's job is to sketch this person from the witness's description. Unfortunately, as he works on the drawing it becomes clear that the woman who is being described bears an uncanny resemblance to his own wife Rayanne (Sean Young).
Jack challenges Rayanne, who is defensive but persuasive. She knew the deceased and, given that her marriage to Jack is going through a rough patch, he is fearful that she knows more about the murder than she is prepared to admit. But the complications increase when he goes to the witness's apartment late one night and she isn't there. Before long, she turns up dead.
I thought the plot twists in this film were well above average. The storyline pre-dates the extensive deployment of DNA testing but it's quite gripping. In contrast, I started watching an eight-part TV crime series just before watching this film, which was a rather tedious experience, and I was glad of the pace of Angeli's script. A good time-passer.
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