Oh, for the glory days of Joan Crawford transformed by plastic surgery in A WOMAN'S FACE! In the devalued world of made-for-TV movies, melodrama fans must settle for versatility-challenged Crystal Bernard, who runs the gauntlet -- but not the gamut -- as a scarred woman
bent on revenge. Disfigured horse trainer Terry Hadley Chance (Bernard) naively trusts her ne'er-do-well husband, Virgil (Doug Savant). When her father Frank (Barry Corbin) discovers Virgil has embezzled $30,000 for gambling debts, Virgil eliminates him in a car "accident." Virgil then bamboozles
Terry out of the family business, implicates her in a horse-doping incident, divorces her while she's in prison and weds wealthy Southern belle, Julie (Claire Rankin). Mentored by her money-laundering cellmate Della Rae (Vanessa Imani Paul), Terry adjusts to caged life, until a knife attack by an
amorous lesbian leads to Terry's undergoing reconstructive surgery. After her release, a now unrecognizable Terry becomes an investment broker who dabbles in thoroughbred horses. She tries to muscle in on Virgil's turf, but can't nail her ex for his crimes. After Julie's meddling mother dies in
yet another suspicious car crash, Julie conspires with Terry to trick Virgil into using counterfeit money (provided by Della Rae) to pay off the mob. Will Virgil finally trip up? Will Terry meet with one of Virgil's "accidents"? Don't you wish this telefilm had starred Valerie Bertinelli or even
Melissa Gilbert? This getting-even wish-fulfillment enables viewers with low self-esteem to fantasize about destroying their cosmetic-superiors while doubling as a tranquilizer for housewives who resent their controlling husbands. On its own-simpleminded level, this melodrama hits all the right
notes; it's Bernard's acting that's off-key. As disfigured Terry, she mousily begs for audience sympathy; as avenging Terry, she assumes a star's glamour that she doesn't really possess. This is a leading-lady vehicle with an empty center. --Robert Pardi
