Skeletons

1997 "Beneath the surface, nothing is what it seems."
5.2| 1h27m| R| en| More Info
Released: 04 April 1997 Released
Producted By: HBO
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A heart attack moves a Pulitzer winning journalist to leave NY for the peace of a small New England town, but he soon finds himself pulled into a case of a man accused of killing his gay lover with the blade of a shovel. Wanting to keep the case quiet, the town turns against the journalist and his family when he begins digging into its secrets, until finally the accused man is found hanging in his cell and the truth comes out about more than just the killing.

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Reviews

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!
Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
blanche-2 "Skeletons" is listed as a 1997 TV-movie, but it must have been shown somewhere else given its not-ready-for-prime time language.It stars Ron Silver, Dee Wallace Stone, Christopher Plummer, James Coburn, and Carole Baker.This is actually a horror film, though it starts off as a mystery. When journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Crane (Silver) suffers a heart attack, he and his wife (Stone) and young son move to a small, idyllic New England town, Saugatuck. They haven't been there long when a woman (Baker) comes to see Crane, knowing his reputation. Her son has been accused of killing his gay lover; she knows he didn't do it and wants Crane to investigate.It's clear from the get-go that the town is anti-gay, and the Crane family is immediately harassed by the locals because of Crane's interest in the case. Crane smells a set-up, and when another tragedy occurs, he's sure of it.This film disintegrated into horror-land toward the end. It became obvious that some of these actors -- Mr. Plummer, I'm talking to you -- did it for the money. One of our finest actors in this dreck - I find it reprehensible. Ditto James Coburn.I'd like to say this film is dated but we know in some parts of the country, this kind of harassment against gays still goes on. This movie over-emphasized the point but still, since it is a horror film, it could be made today, seventeen years later. That makes me sad. Like a few other things in "Skeletons."
shiningmonk Ron Silver, James Coburn and Christopher Plummer are interesting to watch in this unoriginal plot about something rotten in an apparently perfect New England small town. The film suffers from a crisis of identity, starting off like a legal drama, developing shades of high school angst, a horror element and, well, I'll stop there rather than give away the ending. As someone else has said in this forum, the story fizzles out at the end. Bad plot, only just saved by some decent acting. 5 out of 10.
lju3 I hold this movie in absolute disdain. It is one of those "we have a do-good, politically correct, neatly packaged little movie that we swear really does have a point." This movie is about a sleepy little town that has a gay murder that may or may not have been a hate crime (though they not-so-subtly make it clear that it was). An ill writer moves there, exposes the story, and is harassed to no end. This movie is basically here to say that moral positions against homosexuality are wrong, that religion is really an evil narcotic, and that anyone who disagrees is a bigoted homophobe. It is sad that the director let the soap-box proclamations get in the way, because the idea of a xenophobic little town with strange people and not enough genetic variation is a decent premise. James Coburn, Christopher Plummer, and Ron Silver are all very good actors, but they are simply not able to show what they can do.The pace at which this film staggers reminds me of one of my alcoholic friend's storytelling abilities. It lurches forth and alternates between fast action that makes no sense, then bizarre attempts to build suspense that fail miserably. The film also takes a turn for the bizarre when a crazy lady befriends the ill writer. I can't say too much about it without giving the move away, but the end is especially bizarre and disappointing. All in all, a very bad movie.I would, in closing, like to point out one key similarity between this movie and my aforementioned alcoholic friend. At the end of his stories he would usually throw up. At the end of this movie, you will.
adsjunk80 Poor acting and a dumb, anti-religious story that tries to preach a trite ideal with a completely ridiculous and laughable scenario. This looks like a really poor and cheesy TV movie but I think it was actually meant to have a serious "message" that makes it even more pathetic. Ron Silver's acting once again stinks up the place even when surrounded by other poor performances all around. Yuck.