When fake arrows turn fatal, Spenser's date night becomes a blood-soaked backstage nightmare.
Spenser attends a play at his girlfriend's insistence to meet a director who is allegedly being stalked. During the performance, the lead actor in a hale of fake arrows is suddenly killed by a real arrow from a crossbow. This launches Spencer into an investigation of everyone involved with the theatrical company and leads him up against a Chinese mobster, who warns Spencer to quit questioning his wife, one of the theater's patrons. However, everything changes when the mobster is found beaten to death.
Acting
Marcia Gay Harden elevating every scene she's in—give her a better vehicle!
Practical Effects
The crossbow murder is genuinely inventively staged for such a cheap production.
Costume
Joe Mantegna's leather jacket deserves co-billing status.
Director
Leong Po-Chih
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the third of four Spenser TV movies produced by A&E, attempting to revive Robert B. Parker's detective after the 1980s Spenser: For Hire series ended.
Director Leong Po-Chih was a Hong Kong cinema veteran who somehow ended up shooting this in Toronto standing in for Boston—explaining why the 'Chinatown' feels suspiciously clean.
US
