An American suspense thriller; A story about a Chicago psychiatrist accused of murdering one of his patients by a police detective who has a personal axe to grind which he uses to find out the truth. It's moderately engaging but the story gets stuck in a rut and is too formulaic to be effective. Moore is convincing as a compassionate man under suspicion of murder. Tension is taut but Steiger's scenery-chewing acting wears thin. Elliott Gould brings his usual jauntiness and there's a nice turn from Art Carney as a wacky private eye. It twists and turns but the mystery ends early and the third act is a bolt-on, a disappointment. As an aside, the film is not untypical of a number of violent adult crime thrillers made in the early 1980s e.g. Cruising, Dressed to Kill, Death Wish II, Tightrope.
Review of The Naked Face
