Masquerade - 1988 film review

Masquerade is a film often categorised as 'neo noir', although like Body Heat, for instance, events are swathed in sunshine rather than darkness. It's a glossy piece of work which dates from 1988 but has worn pretty well, even if there is more nudity than you'd be likely to find in similar movies today, in the age of the intimacy co-ordinator. Dick Wolf (best known for Law & Order) was responsible for the Edgar-nominated screenplay, and his plotting proved skilful enough to hold my attention from start to finish.  

The setting is The Hamptons, playground of the rich, and some critics have read into the script a commentary on classism in the United States. This is an element of the story, to be sure, but a relatively minor one. There's no doubt that the emphasis is on mystery and plot twists, and I'm not the person to complain about that! 

Rob Lowe plays Tim Whalen, a young yacht captain who is having an affair with a married woman (Kim Cattrall, very glamorous). He meets up with Olivia, a young heiress (Meg Tilly), whose mother has recently died, and who is living unhappily with her stepfather and his latest girlfriend. Olivia also encounters a childhood friend, Mike McGill, who is now working as a local cop.

Motives for murder - sex, money, jealousy - swirl around as one death follows another. We are certainly in 'trust no-one' territory with this storyline. The film also benefits from a typically lush score by John Barry (who also wrote a superb soundtrack for Body Heat, and whose style of composition was very well suited to this type of storyline). Reviews of the film on its release were mixed, but I think it's a very good example of its kind. Not in the same league as Body Heat, but then I would say that's the best neonoir film ever made.