Deceived

After the comedy fiasco of Bird on a Wire, Hawn gets serious for this psychological thriller, only to find herself immured in an equally preposterous plot. She plays Adrienne, whose seemingly blissful life with museum curator Jack (Heard) conceals all manner of horrors. After six happy years of marriage, Jack's apparent death in a car crash leaves his grieving wife to unravel the mystery of why he assumed a false identity sixteen years earlier. With increasingly macabre/laughable developments in the story, poor Goldie is left stomping around, convincingly distraught as she vacillates between threats and toe-curling terror. Too bad, because slick direction and rich textures created by long-time Eastwood cinematographer Jack Green prove enticing, as does a strong performance from Heard.