Very disappointing...

Simply A Masterpiece

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

hyped garbage

U.K. release title: False Witness.SYNOPSIS: When he discovers he is dying from an incurable brain tumor, an insurance investigator decides to frame himself for an unsolved murder.COMMENT: Probably the most successful example of a TV style transferred to the cinema, Richard A. Colla's "Zigzag" is unrelentingly shot throughout in extreme close-ups, yet, because of its strong story- line and forceful performances (particularly by George Kennedy and Eli Wallach), it manages to come across with an impact that the use of wider long shots often dissipates. Admittedly, the plot is full of holes, but the method adopted by the screenwriter to expose the mystery is clever and ingenious enough to keep interest at a high pitch.Despite her billing, Anne Jackson has a small, unrewarding, unmemorable role — catalytic but peripheral. It's a wonder (and a cause for joy) that the writer wasn't asked to expand her part by adding a few tedious domestic scenes for her! As it is, the script rightly focuses on the Kennedy character.As might be expected, the budget is tight, but production values benefit from some on-location lensing.

As a Los Angeles insurance investigator with a brain tumor (but unwilling to undergo the necessary laser surgery), George Kennedy bustles through this far-fetched, hyperbolic criminal nonsense like an overage Boy Scout. He proceeds to implicate himself in a year-old unsolved murder, which would allow spouse Anne Jackson to collect on the reward money; of course, the surgery becomes imperative--thereby leaving Kennedy a healthy, innocent man convicted of first-degree murder! Despite variable camera-work, and a somewhat confusing past-and-present style, this is a well-made picture with a solid cast. Kennedy, actually, has some fine early scenes; but once the plot loops become entangled, he has nothing to rely on but his typical slow-burn. John T. Kelley's screenplay changes gears in the final third (becoming standard cops-and-robbers stuff), releasing all the pent-up hot air within this scenario. It not only leaves questions unanswered, it also makes the L.A. police force look bad and the criminal justice system appear inept (which may have been intentional). ** from ****

From the perspective of 2003, the saddest thing about this very downbeat picture is that it could never get made as a commercial production these days - certainly not with a middle-aged and far from beautiful character player in the lead. Although its structure relies on two large implausibilities, the story, characters and motivations are unashamedly adult and human: Zigzag takes life seriously, and when was the last mainstream picture you saw that did that?The versatile and sympathetic heavy George Kennedy (if I'm ever on a passenger plane that's in trouble, I'd want him at the controls) gives an honest, understated performance as a flawed family man who takes a desperate road to a strange kind of redemption. The way he does that would have made a terrific lower-depths 1940s noir for a second-division star like Dana Andrews or Edmond O'Brien, but Zigzag loses nothing from its setting in the less obviously cinematic milieu of respectable lower-middle-class life in an up-and-up America that was just beginning to turn Dayglo.I don't say it's a neglected classic - there's not the slightest touch of humour, the supporting cast aren't trying very hard, and the look of the film is reminiscent of an old episode of Kojak (so are most of the actors). Zigzag is just a solid piece of grown-up dramatic entertainment whose modest ambitions are positively Shakesperean compared to almost anything you could get insulted by at your local multiplex this weekend.

George Kennedy plays what may well be his best performance as a man who frames himself for a crime he didn't commit so his wife can benefit from the reward money, and then becomes enmeshed in a complex and gripping spiral of events after he discovers he is not going to die after all. Anyone who enjoys thrillers will enjoy this film, and it is a mystery to me why it is not available in video.