- 1991movierewind
Episode #57: Dead Silence (A Death in Palm Springs)
Listen to Episode 57 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.
SUMMARY - In Dead Silence (A Death in Palm Springs), three college seniors travel down to Palm Springs for their last spring break vacation. While searching for a party in the desert, they get lost on the highway and accidentally hit and kill a homeless man that was walking along the side of the road. While one of the girls wants to report the crime to the police, the other two convince her to cover it up and go back home and hope for the best.
Screenplay by J. David Miles; Directed by Peter O’Fallon, and premiered on Fox on August 26, 1991.
FILM DISCUSSION
Get ready to party!
It's spring break time and after some very quick intros, it's off to Palm Springs to showcase the atmosphere any MTV viewer recognized in the early 90s.
The movie does a good job with their casting as the three leads have wonderful chemistry together and immediately feel like lifelong friends.
And when things go down, each of them do have their own arcs to show how the hit and run have continually impacted them.
Still, it's a TV movie and those usually lack some of the polish you'd expect with a higher budget. See the actual accident done in super slo-mo.
Story-wise, it spent a lot of time on stuff that didn't matter much, like the mechanic we were sure would come back to bite them.
It also didn't make sense that Sunnie would stay behind to start work instead of actually graduating? Not sure why her employer didn't have that factored in.
Everyone gave the vibe that they knew more than they did, including the professor played by Bryan Cranston. It's unclear if this was supposed to be the character's interpretation.
The interactions with the cops were interesting and it's odd the press got the access they did
The movie shows flashes of trying to do something interesting, like when they return from the accident and the party atmosphere doubles as a horror landscape.
Ultimately, the acting carries the movie since the plot had very little of the suspense and tension we were hoping for.
Awards Talk: None to mention this time.
TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE
This week we don't have any true crime, but we do have a big pop culture event to talk about
What happened on this day August 26, 1991
Royals pitcher Bret Saberhagen gave the Royals their most recent no-hitter on August 26, 1991 in his final season with the team.
Here's what you may have been watching on TV, if you weren't tuned in to Fox:
We also mentioned we have the TV guide for this week, so here is the ad that appeared.
And here's the ad for the direct competition, "Finding the Way Home". We cannot "find" any viewable version of this movie, so it's not on our list.
On to music, here are the Billboard 100 Bottom 5 as of August 31, 1991
100. Gerardo - When the Lights Go Out - Did you know he had a second song on the charts? But still no shirt.
99. Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis
98. Or-n-more (featuring Father MC) - everyotherday
97. KMC Kru - The Devil Came up To Michigan
96. Lonnie Gordon - Gonna Catch You - As heard in the major motion picture "Cool As Ice"
RANKINGS & RATINGS
Nikki 1-5 star scale - 2 out of 5
Jon 0-4 star scale - 1 out of 4
Would you watch it again? - The acting is strong and in the pantheon of TV movies, this really isn't a terrible one. However, we still wouldn't watch it again, because the plot left too much to be desired. There is a lot of inner turmoil, but not enough external tension.
If you want to watch Dead Silence (A Death in Palm Springs), as of this recording in March 2022, it’s available on YouTube. Check your local listings.
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