Year Released: 1991
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Robin Williams
(R, 107 min.)
Genre: Drama, Crime, Mystery and Suspense, Thriller

“Thanks to fate, the only cosmic force with a tragic sense of humor, you burn somebody in one life, they get a chance to burn you back in this one. It’s the karmic credit plan. Buy now, pay forever.” –Robin Williams as Dr. Cozy Carlisle

Is it happening all over again? The impulsive romance, quickly souring, and then ending in a brutal murder? Then married couple Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson play two sets of star crossed lovers executing a tortuous pas de deux that mirrors what happened decades earlier.

In this murder story, a private detective is enlisted to learn the identity of a beautiful woman who has no memory of her own life, but is tormented by nightmares from someone else’s.

A little like Vertigo, you might say. Or at least its premise.

But it is not all gloom and doom. We have a tremendous cast, not only these “two Brits who were yet to become big stars,” but also greats such as Derek Jacobi and Robin Williams (taking an uncredited role since he didn’t want the audience to expect a comedy.)

Of course, because of his role as Dr. Cozy Carlisle, a discredited shrink, now stocking shelves at a small grocery, we get just the right amount of deadpan (excuse the pun) humor.

Our quote from above being one of his best:

Thanks to fate, the only cosmic force with a tragic sense of humor, you burn somebody in one life, they get a chance to burn you back in this one. It’s the karmic credit plan. Buy now, pay forever.

I was a damn good shrink. Nineteen years I worked with a lot of people through a lot of sh*t. OK, I slept with a patient or two. It's not like I didn't care about them. I loved being a doctor. I used to not charge half my patients.

Making us wonder, of course, if the number of pro bono cases corresponds to the casual “patient or two “ numbers.

Branaugh, directing and also playing duel role as the stern convicted murderer Roman Strauss and his perhaps reincarnated version, easy going, good time Charlie, Mike Church, of course gives himself a few good one liners as well, such as his ideas about love and commitment:

“I’m not looking for Ms. Right. I’m looking for Ms. Right Now.”

Quite different from the one coyly suggested by his perhaps former self, the self-assured and serious composer, Dr. Roman Strauss. Upon giving a jeweled anklet to his soon to be bride Margaret (Emma Thompson), he tells her,

The man I bought it from explained to me that, when a husband gives it to his wife, they become two halves of the same person.
Nothing can separate them... not even death.

One of many none too subtle foreshadowings. But everyone, especially Branagh, seems to be having a great time with all this over the top Gothic/Hitchcock/Shakespearean excess.

Another great performance as well as some great lines come from Derek Jacobi – of course – who plays a hypnotist. Initially summarily rejecting him, Mike Church later allows a brief visit with the hypnotist to see if he can get Thompson, the mute and amnesiac beauty, to talk at least. Our hypnotist has bigger plans, though, salted with a touch of foreboding.

“This is fate we're talking about, and if fate works at all, it works because people think that THIS TIME, it isn't going to happen!”

Before Mike Church knows it, our hypnotist is taking Grace (the temporary name Church has bestowed on her since she cannot talk) back to the initial trauma that caused her muteness and nightmares. And when we say going back, we mean way back, as to a possible former life as Margaret Strauss, decades dead, stabbed to death by her jealous husband.

Such work is fairly impressive, but the Jacobi’s hypnotist, who sees his clients in a small section of the rambling antique emporium he owns, soon loses some prestige. We overhear a previous client wander through a past life, questioned about any objects de art, jewelry, or sculpture in her dreams, and where they might be.

The same questions for “Grace” suggest some pecuniary as well as professional ardor. How many of those life sized-bronzes were “discovered” and bought on the cheap via hypnosis, we wonder, and so does Mike Church.

Yes, the film bounces back between the two eras and couples, and it gets rather confusing at times. Making the past sequences in black and white is a post filming decision Branagh made to help clarify things, but he earned the ire of the hard working costume designers, who felt their work did not shine in black and white. If they had known before they would have chosen other gowns.

This anecdote is one of the many intriguing bits of trivia from IMBD. Feel free to follow the link for more, but here are a few highlights:

Mike Church's building is the same house as in Double Indemnity (1944), another movie in which an anklet plays a major role.

Dame Emma Thompson and Sir Kenneth Branagh were married when this movie was filmed and premiered. They divorced in 1995.

The scene in which Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) visits the elderly Gray Baker (Andy Garcia) in his nursing home strongly refers to the scene in Citizen Kane (1941) in which the reporter interviews the elderly Jed Leland (Joseph Cotton) in his nursing home. Both old men ask their visitors repeatedly for forbidden tobacco.

Kenneth Branagh credits producers Lindsay Doran and Sydney Pollack with using their weight to support the casting of both himself and Thompson, two Brits who were yet to become big stars, in a Hollywood thriller.

Cast and crew members on told Kenneth Branagh he was far more cheerful and fun to be around when he was playing Mike as opposed to when he was playing the brooding Roman.

A wonderful romp through time and genres with a great cast. Enjoy, with our Caviar and Crème Fraîche Tartlets, but forget the bubbly, dears. You will need all your wits about you to keep up with the twists and turns along the way.

–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

One of the Dead Again’s most lavish scenes is the 1948 wedding buffet for Roman Strauss and his new bride Margaret. It is there that she dallies with Andy Garcia’s Gray Baker, who seems enamored by her, and especially by the jeweled anklet that she wears, an expensive antique bestowed on her by Roman, symbolizing two people becoming one forever.

Of course, as she lifts her wedding skirt to show the smitten Gray Baker, Roman sees the whole things from the balcony.

And then, as the punch line in several jokes circulating on the internet,

“And that’s when the fight began!”

But let’s forget that minor unpleasantness for a while at least, and partake of the exquisite banquet. Gray Baker certainly seems to be enjoying it and the other luscious displays on hand.

You will love these exquisite Caviar and Crème Fraîche Tartlets, and our easy recipe to make them.

And you can thank your movie reviewer for one easy substitute for those not having one of the title ingredients on hand.

Our easy Crème Fraîche substitute courtesy of Different Drummer’s own Appetite for Murder: A Mystery Lover’s Cookbook.

Bon Appétit !

Caviar and Crème Fraîche Tartlets

Ingredients

Makes 12 mini-tarts

12 mini round tart shells (1 1/3-inch) or frozen mini phyllo shells, baked according to package instructions

6 tablespoons crème fraîche (Easy substitute: 2/3 cup Cool Whip, 1/3 cup Sour Cream)

2 tablespoons (.75 ounce) caviar, such as Ossetra or Beluga

2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives

Directions

Arrange tart shells on a serving platter. Spoon crème fraîche into a small resealable plastic bag and snip a 1/4" opening in the corner. Pipe about 1/2 tablespoon crème fraîche onto one side of tart shells and spoon 1/2 teaspoon caviar onto the other side. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.

Epicurious.com