Comic-Con coverage on Spout
Advertisement

Ambition
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Rate this movie.

trailerWatch trailer

Rent it, watch it, find it

Advertisement

Synopsis
Lou Diamond Phillips stars in this contrived but entertaining thriller (which he also wrote) as Mitchell Osgood, an aspiring writer who runs a Los Angeles bookstore. When a heartfelt book about his father Haing S. Ngor fails to win him a publishing deal, Osgood decides to write something more eye-catching -- a book about recently-released serial killer Albert Merrick Clancy Brown. The media beats him to it, so the ruthlessly ambitious Osgood decides to spur Merrick to commit more crimes, hiring him to work at the bookstore and playing cruel mind games in hopes of setting Merrick off. He does, but the results are quite different from what Osgood had anticipated. Phillips' performance is weak, and the screenplay is predictably bland, but the film remains worthwhile thanks to a terrific job by Brown as the killer. Brown has turned in a number of fine psycho performances, but he has rarely been better than he is here, building from understated diffidence to full-blown psychosis in expert fashion. Grace Zabriskie and Willard E. Pugh co-star with Cecilia Peck. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Cast

Katherine Armstrong Roseanne
Teresa Bowman 1st Media Reporter
Richard Bradford Jordan
Clancy Brown Albert Merrick
Dr. Haing S. Ngor Tatay
Cecilia Peck Julie
Willard E. Pugh Freddie
Maria Rangel Female Dancer
Grace Zabriskie Mrs. Merrick
Karen Landry Woman in Bookstore
Chris Mulkey Man in Bookstore

Production Crew

Cheryl Goetschius Associate Producer
Tony To Associate Producer
Jeff Jur Cinematographer
Gwen Field Co-producer
Leonard Rosenman Composer (Music Score)
Diah Wymont Costume Designer
Scott D. Goldstein Director
Scott D. Goldstein Editor
Richard Johnson Producer
Marek Dobrowoiski Production Designer
Tony To Production Manager
Lou Diamond Phillips Screenwriter
Lauren M. Gabor Set Designer
Jeff Cadiente Stunts
Year: 1991
Runtime: 99
Country: USA
MPAA Rating:
Category: Feature

Genre
Thriller

Produced by
Miramax
Spirit

Release
May 31, 1991 (USA)
by Miramax