User Reviews

***SPOILERS*** Listless and boring movie about evidence uncovered that can finally put an end to the question that's been on the minds of millions of Americans since that fateful day in Dallas back on Novermber 22, 1963: Who Killed President Kennedy?

The movie has hot shot NYPD detective David Secca, Cral T. Evens, who's just been transferred to his boyhood home in Carlstadt NJ come across this strip of film form an antique jewelry box he brought for his wife Jenniffer, Arija Bareikns. The film shows the actual shooter making his getaway that day, November 22, 1963, in Dallas! Checking out who the box, as well as film, actually belongs to Det. Secca finds 85 year old Thelma Marshall, Barbara Barrie, at a local nursing home who at first is anything but interested in talking about the whole matter. It' only after Det. Secca tells her that he's a cop she changes her mind and opens up!

We get this whole story about how Thelma and her husband were at Deely Plaza in Dallas that fateful afternoon and shot the film of this person, later reviled as Chicago mobster "Lefty" Garbone, at the scene looking suspicious with a rifle sticking under his, even though it was sunny and clear that day, raincoat! Instead of leaving things where they were Det. Secca goes all out putting his as well as his wife's lives in danger to uncover the crime of the century. This leads to the usual suspects who pop up in almost every Kennedy conspiracy movie book and and magazine article: The Mafia CIA with the NSA thrown in for good measures.

The movie gets even more confusing-if that's possible-as it goes along with a number of the key witnesses, like Mrs. Marshall, dying under mysterious circumstances. Det. Secca himself is later kidnapped and almost beaten to death in, those who kidnapped him, trying to find out just what he knows about Kenndedy's alleged, on the strip of film, assassin. There's also Kenndey conspiracy writer Prof. Steve Lynde, Chris Noth, whom Det. Secca got in touch with who's anything but interested in helping him but, because of Det. Secca's constant persistence, grudgingly goes along with him. Later in the movie after being threatened, in an official collage letter he received, to be terminated from his job Lynde disappears from the movie altogether.

***SPOILERS*** The so-called surprise ending leaves you feeling down in that the man behind Kenndey's assassination-in the movie- is the guy you suspected from the very beginning! Slow and at times unbearably confusing film "Frame of Mind" never goes anywhere in it's feebly trying to put the finger on the person who shot Kennedy. There are a number of puzzling scenes in the move where the screen goes completely black, for up to as much as ten seconds, giving you the impression that it's finally over with the closing credits about to start rolling. Were put through the ringer with some dozen theories on who just was behind the JFK murder with non of them making any real sense at all!

Technically, this is a very good film. It is kind of a "39 Steps" or "N by NW" themed film, in that there is an innocent man suddenly thrown in against the forces of evil.

I have seen lots of low budget or "b" movies with terrible production quality. "Frame of Mind" is not one of those. Carl Evans did a very admirable job writing, starring, and directing this film. While he is not necessarily a dynamic actor, he definitely has a greater range than say Bill Pullman.

It was really nice to see Barbara Barrie again, as she is truly a memorable actress who gave "Barney Miller" a lot more depth as Barney's wife.

Plot wise, for a Kennedy assassination film, it takes a slightly different stance than many of the conspiracy buff movies (in that it focuses on film of the grassy knoll taken before Kennedy arrives). the final twist is great, and while several reviewers trash the movie as not having enough action, I actually found it believable.

After all, what would you do if you had the weight of the world coming down on you and all you wanted was to see your wife and kids stay alive and you knew you couldn't win. you would do what he does, and consequently, i think a lot of assassination researchers made the same choice. good movie, thoughtful, worth the time.

A young, happily married New Jersey police detective comes into possession of new evidence regarding the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It's a photo taken at the grassy knoll in Dallas of a man in an overcoat carrying a rifle. The detective (Evans, who also wrote and directed) finds it interesting enough to contact a local professor (Noth) who has written a book on the subject.

Noth is skeptical. So is Evans' wife. So is everybody else Evans contacts, his fellow cops, the FBI, despite the fact that other curious historical events come to light. For instance, the man in the snap shot was a mob member who was murdered the day after the assassination, arriving in Chicago from Dallas.

It's about this point that we have a close up of a mysterious man's mouth, speaking into a phone, with a mob boss at the other end, asking questions like, "How much does he know?" The camera, never showing the man's face (it turns out later to be Tony Lo Bianco in a terrible wig), pans across the man's desk, showing a couple of emblems of the mysterious man's importance, including a pair of eyeglasses from which the lenses have obviously been removed. (They might reflect the lights or the camera or the crew.) It all ends with a corrupt and criminal government agency firmly in charge and the innocent Evans and his family about to be extinguished.

The plot isn't entirely unreasonable but it's written perfunctorily, as if the writers themselves were more interested in safety than in originality. The dialog has no sparkle. None of the incidents is remarkable. The logical links are weak. Evans is captured by the mob, drugged by one of those drugs that exist only in the movies, beaten half to death, and dumped in the meadowlands. He next appears with a scratch across the bridge of his nose and a not unsightly bruise on his cheek. Clobbered by mob experts and he doesn't even have a black eye.

The location shooting only hints at industrial northern New Jersey, land of pizza parlors, leafy suburbs, awesome slums, and diners. ("Broadway Danny Rose" does a better job.) The acting is on a par with the rest of the production. Evans the actor underplays, but he allows the other performers to overact to the point of embarrassment or to use quirks that do not illustrate the character being played but rather the fact that they know they are in a movie.

I'll give one example and then quit. The blandly handsome Evans takes his blandly pretty blond wife to a political meeting. (Brief appearance by former Mayor Dinkens of New York, who demonstrates that if he's going to continue a career in show business it ought to be at the political end instead of movies.) Up rushes a high-school flame of Evans'. She hugs him and gushes over him until Evans introduces his wife, who is standing next to him. A nice, cool job by the former flame. But the wife frowns until the flame leaves and then glares up at her husband, as if he's committed some grievous sin. That's what I'm calling "overacting." It spells out emotions that the viewer already is sensitive enough to imagine. The wife's frozen smile would have been enough.

But the director can't even leave the EXTRAS alone. In a bar, Evans suspects someone is watching him. He walks up to the man, there is a brief conversation, and Evans shoves the man back against the bar and grabs a wallet out of the man's pocket. He's innocent. Evans apologizes and walks away, while the man makes some sharp remark and exits the scene. In the immediate background, an African-American couple gape open mouthed at the action, their eyes bulging with disbelief. It's the director's responsibility to see that these things don't happen.

Nothing much of substance comes from Evans' investigation except that the man of mystery causes all sorts of misfortunes to visit anyone connected to Evans -- but we already knew that would happen.

Some movies are so bad they're a little funny. Some are bad and boring. This one is a little embarrassing.

Straight-to-DVD isn't always the kiss of death for a film. Carl T. Evans not only directs, but plays David Secca, a police detective looking for a change of scenery and returns to New Jersey, where his father was once on the force. David and his wife Jennifer(Arija Barelkis)buys an old camera case at an antique shop. Inside the case is a piece of film that shows a lone man trying to conceal a rifle and standing on what looks like that infamous grassy knoll in Dallas. Secca begins taking time away from his small town mundane job in search of answers...does he actually have a piece of film that is part of a government conspiracy covering up the Kennedy assassination. Chris Noth plays a college professor that has actually written a book about the conspiracy theory , but is skeptical of Secca's claim of new evidence. The two original owners of the small piece of film, both died of strange circumstances. Secca's paranoia has him wondering if he and his wife now have targets on their backs. Also in the cast: Tony Lo Bianco, Barbara Barrie, Don Harvey, Vincent Curatola and Greg Connolly.

the holes of story. the nice potential. the decent acting. that are the characteristics of movie. not good, not bad. only an exercise on a delicate subject. maybe, the expectations are great but it is not really OK to be surprise because the great virtue is just measure. a common story about a big subject. the collision between high interest of a group and idealism of a young man. result - an interesting search of roots of affair. and Carl Evans does a nice role. not original but interesting, it is the kind of movie who do not gives answers. only suggest an almost realistic attitude about a significant secret. and that is all.

This an engaging JFK assassination-related thriller that held my interest until the roughly edited and unbelievable final minutes. Mafia-related aspects fit one significant school of thinking on the assassination detailed in such books as CONTRACT ON America.CIA linkages implied are very plausible,fitting most conspiracy views and many students of the events might agree. Intriguing plot notion of finding information almost at random. Viewers of such films might consult Art Simon's DANGEROUS KNOWLEDGE for a survey of JFK assassination-related movies. Mostly good acting cast here is largely wasted. Individual inside CIA shown as behind plot seems completely unbelievable, especially given the time elapsed since 1963. A good cast of many familiar faces relevant to New Jersey setting (including a Sopranos cast member). Nice, low budget effort by writer/director/star. OK cable viewing that held this viewer's interest(though I am a long-time JFK assassination buff).

I decided to watch this movie because I thought the idea sounded interesting and I have always liked Chris Noth as an actor, this was a big mistake.

The acting is terrible, sort of like what you would see in a soap opera or some kind of teen flick b-movie. While watching it I was trying to tell if it was the actors faults or the director, well it turns out the lead actor is also the director so I will give him the blame.

I was very tempted to turn it off but I did what to see what kind of twist ending they would come up with but there was none. In one of the final scenes where the protagonist and antagonist finally meet the scene is cut short without showing what was said and one scene later the movie just ends. My feeling is if you are going to write a story probing a possible key piece of evidence in the J.F.K. assassination you should have the guts to push the conclusion. That being said Chris Noth was OK, but in a small role even though he is featured on the DVD cover.