Normally, I don’t do movie reviews or things like that. But a couple of weeks ago I watched a fascinating drama/mystery on the PBS network’s Masterpiece program that I think is worth telling you about. Collision is a British production and it maintains the usual high standards of acting and plot development that they’re known for.
The story is about a police detective who is assigned the task of sorting out the mess that arose from a 6-car pileup on a local freeway. The crash killed two of the ten passengers involved in the wreck and critically injured two others. But what brings the investigators into it is a lawsuit quickly filed by the parents of one of the dead victims. The high brass at police HQ are demanding to find out what the real cause of the collision was, along with what all was going on with it.
But once Det. Insp. John Tolin (played by Douglas Henshaw) starts reconstructing the crash and delving into the personal histories of all the crash victims, it turns out to be six mysteries that all collided in this one wreck. Early on in the movie, there are a lot of flashbacks showing how each of the victims’ day was started and how they all came to be at that one spot on the highway at the same time. The flashback method is necessary and cleverly done, but it does require some concentration to follow it.
By the time Insp. Tolin is done, he has waded through a murder, a human-smuggling ring, industrial espionage, serial infidelity, and hidden pasts. The plot development is excellent and it surprised me by its “grabbing” ability. The story begins rather benignly and you tend to think that it’s going to be a dull, plodding story. But as he gets more into the investigation, it pulls you into it and you begin getting anxious for the next revelation. If you like complicated, intertwining plots like I do, then I think you would enjoy this movie. Oh, yes…..he discovers what really triggered the accident and that revelation at the end of the story is the biggest surprise of them all.
The movie runs 2-½ hrs., so you might want to view it in two sittings. I see that Amazon.com is releasing it for sale on this Tuesday, Dec. 15. It would make a good stocking-stuffer, I think.
Now we’d better get this equipment checked out. We might have our own 6-car pileup to work on today, you know. I’ll get the coffee started and see how the Sunday breakfast is coming along. See you in the day room.
