Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
bkoganbing
Chad Allen who faced and weathered a scandal about outing a prominent gay actor has once again brought to cinematic life, gay private detective Donald Strachey. In On The Other Hand Death, Allen is working two cases and then realizes just how much they are connected. Not unlike the classic Farewell My Lovely from the hand of Raymond Chandler.On The Other Hand Death, has Strachey brought in for questioning after it's found out he's been hired to trail an undercover cop working an assignment. At the same time Allen's partner Sebastian Spence's ex Daman Runyon asks that Allen look into some bias related incidents involving a long time lesbian couple, Margot Kidder and Gabrielle Rose.Kidder and Rose leave way out in the rural part of Albany county and when Kidder who is a school guidance counselor finally came out of the closet, several of the neighbors became pretty hostile. Especially one whose son is experiencing those same sex urges. It would make things more convenient all around if Kidder would sell the family farm which has been in her family for generations.Maybe a little too convenient as Allen investigates and finds more than just your garden variety homophobia at work here.On The Other Hand Death will never approach Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler's work in the genre, but why does it have to? If the protagonist was straight this would just be another routine detective story that got a good film made from it. But Allen has done four Strachey stories and may yet do more if the demand is there.Hopefully the demand will be there.
Terrell-4
A mysterious client hires private eye Don Strachey to tail a woman who turns out to be a detective running an uncover investigation. Two aging lesbians, one a high school counselor, are harassed and their home vandalized in the small town where they live. A giant real estate deal is nearing a deadline. If that wasn't enough, an old lover of Timmy Callahan's shows up. Timmy is Don's life partner. We'll soon learn that Timmy's friend knows the two women. And before long, murder appears carrying an accelerant for arson. As Strachey digs into these seemingly unrelated cases, he gradually realizes there are links. Some of the links depend on big money deals. Some depend on long-buried secrets that have been buried far too long. Some lead to beatings and death. Chad Allen plays Strachey in this third, and in my opinion the best, of the Don Strachey television movies. They're based on the Richard Stevenson mysteries. For those who like to read as well as watch, Stevenson has written nine of them. Death Vows, his latest, came out in 2008. He's a fine writer who comes up with complicated stories that involve deadly motives. Allen is a little shorter than how I envisage the written Strachey, and a little more ironic. He's a good actor, however, and makes believable Strachey's intelligence, decency and, when needed, willingness to do some violence. Sebastian Spence plays Timmy Callahan, Strachey's, for want of a better term, co-husband. They've been together for a while and are committed to a monogamous relationship, although sometimes tempted. Timmy works for a top legislator in Albany. He's smart, doesn't like it when Strachey gets involved with danger, and mixes a soothing martini for them both after a tough day's work. The centerpiece of this story is the two aging women who have been together for years. Their house is being vandalized with graffiti and thrown bricks. The driving force of the story, thankfully, isn't just a screed about some townspeople's intolerance. No, this involves plain old greed, corruption and enough complications to make a satisfying story. Margot Kidder plays Dorothy Fisher, a no-nonsense woman who talks straight and is quite prepared to take a baseball bat to anyone who tries to hurt her or her partner, Edith Strong. Dorothy is an indomitable woman who can be a pain in the rear. It's a showy part and Kidder makes the most of it. Gabrielle Rose, however, as Strong, brings not only subtle emotion to the plot, but some extraordinarily fine acting. Ten years ago she played Delores Driscoll, the anguished bus driver in that achingly sad movie, The Sweet Hereafter. The most hidden secrets involve Dorothy and Edith. With that out of the way, what about the feared gay agenda we keep hearing about? Well, sure there is one here, for those who want to call it that. Don Strachey and his committed partner, Timmy Callahan, are portrayed as two men, comfortable in their skins, who love each other and who have an easy-going, affectionate relationship. We'll see examples of deeply committed love between two older women; we'll see the problems of teens who know they're gay and have no one to talk to about it, including their parents; and we'll see a positive case made for love, affection, humor and help regardless of the gender. If the alternative to the feared gay agenda is a hetero agenda as exemplified by Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee...well, give me Cary Grant, Grace Kelly and Randolph Scott in any combination they want. I'll approve.
Gordon-11
This film is about Donald Strachey investigating the harassment of a lesbian couple, and he uncovers a lot of dark secrets along the investigation."On the Other Hand, Death" maintains the mystery and thrill throughout the film. It has a complicated plot, with a lot of unexpected twists. Though it is refreshing to see such a nicely written mystery, the various parts of the mystery needs a lot of explaining and building up. This makes the first half of the film confusing and seems leading to nowhere. When everything finally falls into place, I am marvelled by the storyline.The plot's inclusion of confused teens and people with a dark past make the characters more real. In addition, the relationship between Donald and Timothy is loving, not based on sex as other gay films would jump into at once. This is affirmative and encouraging to people who long for lifelong relationships. I enjoyed watching "On the Other Hand, Death", and I look forward to watching more Donald Strachey films.
amberbaer
while watching this movie on the HERE! network, I came to realize that no one else could play the lead role except Chad Allen. While the movie pace is relatively slow in nature - it must after all build to the ending - it does so in just slow enough pace to make you want to pull your hair out.Casting is decent all around - his up-tight husband is borderline annoying, and the gay secretary is becoming more annoying than in the last movie. The hot ex of the husband plays into the gay fear of the hot ex putting the make on the current husband...but it rather backfires on him as he becomes a target himself.The last 40 minutes of the movie are the best part of the movie - you can almost skip through the first part as the pacing is too slow. But once the shooting starts and the music quickens - the pace of the movie goes into a much needed overdrive! They are currently filming another movie in the series - let's hope that they can pace the next one better - but this one is not too shabby all around - just needs a slightly higher quality of scripts!
