Running Hot

Sentenced to death for the patricide actually committed by his sexually-abused sister, Stoltz escapes from his escort and reaches the fantasising romantic hooker (Carrico) who has been writing to him in prison. They take off on the run, with the humiliated and vengeful police escort (Margolin) on their heels. Griffiths (his debut as writer/director) knows how to use a camera and set up a scene, but he wrote this for Monica Carrico, and it shows. She's terrific, vibrant, sexy and compelling; but Stoltz, who has all the acting vices of the young Peter Fonda and then some, lacks the resources to overcome the inherent weaknesses of his role, and leaves a gaping hole in the heart of what is otherwise a rather good low-budget movie. An odd piece of miscasting, since everybody else, down to the smallest bits, is superb (especially Pickard as an ex-con).