Second Chances

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It is easy to tell when the protagonist in a crime movie is in for trouble: when the police appear incompetent. At the start of "Second Chances," the heroine, Professor Kate Fischer, is given the following contradictory and redundant warning by a police detective: "Don't worry. But be aware and keep your eyes open!" Another piece of advice that should have been taken to heart by the professor: don't count on the police, even if you are sleeping with the lead investigator. The story of the professor backtracks to the moment when Kate Fischer was a superstar journalist, who conducted an interview with a serial killer without informing the police. With the long delay, the killer claimed another victim, a young woman with the beautiful name of Laura Rose. That moment has haunted Kate. But it has haunted even more someone who is now out for blood against the journalist. The screenplay serves up a host of possible villains, including the faculty, administrative staff, and student body at Haskins College, a fictional institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Kate has now landed a plum teaching job. For her first course, she only has a smattering of students in a large lecture hall. But four of those students become suspects when they registered for the course only after it was announced that Kate would be teaching it. The wily police zero in on those suspicious late registrants. SPOILERS FOLLOW: One word is in order about the job that the detective did in protecting Kate: Pathetic! While he evidently scored in the bedroom with Kate, he loses points on his tactical approach to a crime scene, entering the home alone and getting clubbed over the head by the perp. For the police as a whole, this film may have depicted the slowest response on record of a SWAT team, once the perps and the location have been identified. On arrival at the crime scene, the team even took its time to affix large photos of the perps on the side of the police van. Then came the brilliant order of the lead detective: "Stand down!!!" The abysmal screenplay produced more laughs than suspense. But the most appalling line of dialogue was when the professor stated about her teaching position at Haskins: "It's a new start for Robbie and I." With that level of expertise in her grammar, I would not want a paper of mine to be graded by Professor Fischer.