Unlawful Entry (1992)

Jonathan Kaplan's Unlawful Entry is not good enough to salvage three performers who try their hardest to make the stale story work. Ray Liotta is effectively menacing, Kurt Russell does a fine variation on Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs, and Madeleine Stowe's wide eyes convey both intelligence and fear. Sadly, whenever they speak the by-the-numbers dialogue written for them, any credibility they have established with the audience vaporizes. Although the film works at the most basic genre level, a cast this good should be able to bring something special to such a familiar set-up. The screenplay just does not give the performers enough room to find inspiration. Kaplan's direction is professional, but he seems as weighed down by the obvious screenplay as the actors do. Although many films suffer from going through too many script revisions, Unlawful Entry would have benefited greatly from one more pass through the typewriter. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide