Masquerade Reviews

In his first film shot in America, expatriate American Bob Swaim departs from the Paris underworld of his French films to set MASQUERADE in the fresh ocean air of the Hamptons on Long Island. Rob Lowe is Tim Whalen, the new kid at the harbor who has impressed just about everyone he's met, including Meg Tilly's mousy Olivia Lawrence, the orphaned heiress to a $300 million fortune. Olivia falls in love with Tim, not knowing that he and her stepfather (John Glover) are in league to kill her and get their hands on the inheritance. While emulating the psychological undercurrents of 1940s film noir, MASQUERADE has the look of a 1980s thriller. There are no dark corners in which terror lurks, no low-key lighting through venetian blinds, no glistening rainy-night scenes. But Swaim heaps outlandish characters and situations on top of each other until the movie is crippled by implausibiities. For what it's worth, Lowe and Tilly turn in decent performances and strike a pleasing balance.