BAFFLED! (1973)
TV-Movie
Article 3316 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-27-2010
Posting Date: 9-12-2010
Directed by Philip Leacock
Featuring Leonard Nimoy, Susan Hampshire, Rachel Roberts
Country: UK/USA
What it is: Psychic mystery movie, failed TV pilot style

A race car driver discovers he has psychic visions. He teams up with a female reporter who is an expert on psychic phenomena to try to prevent a crime in an English manor house.

You know, you can just tell sometimes by watching the opening credits sequence of a TV-Movie if they were planning to make a series out of it, and this is one example. I’m not really surprised that this one failed to make the grade. It’s not so much the story itself; though in some ways the story is obvious, in others it does have a few surprises up its sleeve. No, the problem is either in the dialogue and/or the casting. The dialogue is overripe, artificial, and rather annoying. Still, there’s part of me that suspects that it might have gotten by had another actor been in the lead role. Make no mistake; I think Leonard Nimoy is a fine actor, but the role he’s playing demands the qualities of airy lightness and casual charm, and though Nimoy tries his best, he never really feels natural or comfortable in the role, and in a series this would have become dreadfully apparent. In the end, the movie feels contrived and forced, despite certain good moments.