The Killing Mind (1991) starring Stephanie Zimbalist, Tony Bill, Daniel Roebuck, K. Todd Freeman, Lee Tergesen, Candy Ann Brown directed by Michael Ray Rhodes Movie Review

The Killing Mind (1991)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Zimbalist in The Killing Mind (1991)

Ballerina Murder

After leaving the FBI, Isobel Neiman (Stephanie Zimbalist - Prison of Secrets) joins the LAPD's Special Investigation Unit where being the only woman and a sergeant takes some ribbing from the men who work in the unit. But she sets about her job assisting Detectives Jepson and Robinson with their burglary cases whilst reopening a cold case known as the "ballerina murder" a case she already knows because as a child she entered a crime scene and saw the dead woman hanging over a fence. With a desire to solve this 20 year old mystery she tracks down reporter Thomas Quinn (Tony Bill - Ice Station Zebra) who wrote numerous articles on the murder and starts re-examining old evidence much to the concern of Quinn who thinks she is too obsessed with the case.

Some things never change and one of those things is TV movies about a woman cop investigating an old case. It was only last week I found myself watching one of these movies from more recent times and here I find myself watching and reviewing "The Killing Mind" a similar TV movie from the early 90s. If you ignore the camera stock and the specifics of the case the two movies were the same with similar characters, similar story arc and similar relationships. I suppose what I am saying is that "The Killing Mind" whilst over 20 years old is no different from and TV movie.

Tony Bill in The Killing Mind (1991)

So on the subject of typical well lets start with Isobel, from the fact she had a connection to the case from her childhood to the tough sense of humour in the face of sexism it is all typical of this sort of movie. But you can go further because lo and behold she starts working with the journalist who covered the case and goes as far as becoming very involved in the case to the point of moving into the hotel room where the dead woman lived. Even the supporting characters such as Jepson and Robinson who are known as Frick and Frack whilst offering comic relief are typically friendly and as you would hope amusing.

Now I could go on but it would probably make it sound like I didn't enjoy "The Killing Mind" when in truth I did. But there is nothing really original or special about it with its mix of drama occasionally interspersed with some comic relief. About the best thing about the movie is that Stephanie Zimbalist is entertaining as Isobel handling the humour and drama with a certain amount of charm.

What this all boils down to is that "The Killing Mind" is just a routine cop movie which whilst visually a product of the early 90s and is entertaining is no better or worse than modern made for TV movies.


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