A beautiful young computer technician starting off her career in Silicon Valley during the Eighties, is stalked and harassed by a nerdy, dangerous and mentally-unstable colleague with a twisted obsession.
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Reviews
To me, this movie is perfection.
best movie i've ever seen.
Admirable film.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
This film was done pretty well and the acting by Richard Thomas and Brooke Shields was good as well. Especially Richard Thomas who can play a good guy and in this case a psychopath very well. This film based on a true story really brings the reality of stalking to a horrific conclusion. It brings to light why California like other states finally had to recognize the inherent dangers of ignoring threats by sick people such as Farley. When Laura Black repeatedly complained about the abuse this loony tunes was throwing at her, their response was to say the least was light. Now with brave women like her and Teresa Saldana the country has zeroed in on nuts like Farley. I've heard other folks say that if she wasn't so mean to the guy in the first place that maybe he wouldn't have snapped. Sorry to say but when someone is willing to go that far and start out with the harassment that he did to her, they're far beyond getting a rejection and feeling bitter about it. For us normal people when a person doesn't want to go out with us we move on. That's life. But when dealing with a person like Farley, they've had that in them for a long time and in Laura Black's case she was the innocent who was targeted by that nut.***SPOILER ALERT*** One scene that cracked me up was when Richard Thomas was in the ladies room at that restaurant and he's talking to Brooke Shields. Then a woman walks in and his expression completely changes from a slit-eyed cold stare to a wide-eyed madman when he tells her "get out of here!!!!!".All in all a very good suspense film.
This type of film could seem over-the-top, but thanks to a believable performance by Richard Thomas, and a surprisingly decent performance by Brooke Shields, the viewer is interested in the story, and not distracted by personalities.You will see some interesting information regarding stalking, as well. For example, when Thomas speaks to Penny (human resources) who divulges Laura's personal information (including her birthday, residence and family information). This film was made in 1993, and I was surprised that the company was not held liable for Laura's problems with this man.As this is based on a true story, we see Richard Thomas gradually unraveling as he stalks Laura (Shields), he seems initially harmless, then obsessed. The breaking point occurs when he is fired. He has, he says to his friends, nothing to lose, and starts asking if the office is protected with bullet-proof glass. His co-workers laugh, thinking this is a joke.This is an interesting and true story, which is well-presented. 9/10
Richard Thomas is so good in this part it's scary. The first time I saw this I thought, he can't be that good an actor, he must be a maniac in real life. He does a very effective job, playing a techno geek who becomes obsessed with a coworker. He takes it from being just an annoying pest through the stalker stage, into the full blown maniac stage. Even when he is walking around with a shot gun he is very believable. No Rambo type violence, just a seemingly normal person who happens to be treating life like a video game. It is disturbing and you ask yourself, what would you tell your daughter or friend to do in that type of situation. All the legal avenues seem to make it worse. There are no easy answers. It definitely made me want to look into the case this is based on. Thomas was expected to carry the movie and he did. Brooke Shields was perhaps at her best in this part, but the whole movie hinges on if you buy into Thomas as the stalker and it does it quite well!
This is a truly frightening story of a real stalking case. In fact, the story this movie revolves around pioneered the anti-stalking law in California and likely inspired other states to do the same.Richard Farley (played by Richard Thomas, in a role at the other end of the spectrum from his role in The Waltons) is an office nerd-of-sorts who thinks he has a shot with Laura Black (Brooke Shields), a new co-worker at a Northern California high-tech firm. Farley ruthlessly pursues Black in spite of her rejections. In spite of Black's protests, Farley keeps up his pursuit, even sending letters to her at her parents' home in VA. (This event actually happened).*SPOILER FOLLOWING*Farley continues his pursuit until, after threatening the HR people at his company (another real event), he is fired and banned from the property. However he still pursues Laura until he is served with a temporary restraint order keeping him away from her. What follows is a terrifying attack against his old employer. In a sequence that shatters actor Thomas' wholesome image, he goes 'postal' and ruthlessly guns down several people, including Laura, who managed to escape. This segment seems to follow the real story almost right down to the last detail, including those surrounding Farley's surrender.I have heard of the story surrounding Laura Black, and this movie fit most of the particulars almost to a T. The depth of the writers' attention to the details of the Laura Black stalking made this movie that much more frightening. It is better than most TV movies which take a fair bit of dramatic license with their writing. Unlike those, this one sticks very close to the actual story.