Dead in a Heartbeat (2002)
by Del Harvey

TNT offers up explosive TV movie that goes right for the heart -- sort of

The head of Seattle's Bomb Squad is called in to investigate when a psycho starts blowing people up in a rather unusual way; he plants bombs inside pacemakers before they reach the hospital. Lieutenant Tom Royko (Judge Reinhold) enlists the assistance of open-heart surgeon Dr. Gillian Hayes (Penelope Ann Miller) as they race against time trying to prevent several other catastrophic bomb events. A divorcee, Royko's son Troy (Jeff Ballard) becomes entangled in the hunt for the psychotic bomber Franklin (Timothy Busfield), raising the stakes for this cop and his newfound doctor friend.

Playing upon paranoia could easily be considered a risky move on the part of any television company right now. But Dead in a Heartbeat plays to all the right emotions and ends up working on several levels. Reinhold plays against type in this leading role, which isn't quite tough guy, but certainly fearless when it comes to explosives. Penelope Ann Miller is quite good as the surgeon, and I think this is largely due to her character having been written realistically. In fact, both characters are fairly realistic and down to earth. Which helps tremendously when compared to Busfield, who does little more with his character other than to make him stereotypical and repulsive.

Directed by first-timer Paul Antier and written by Mark Rosman and Richard Ades, Dead in a Heartbeat premieres on TNT in early March. Check your local guide for showtimes.

Del Harvey is the founder of Filmmonthly. He has recently returned to LA from Chicago to get back into all that show biz insanity firsthand.

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