Ruby Cairo [Deception] ** (1992, Andie MacDowell, Liam Neeson, Viggo Mortensen, Jack Thompson) – Classic Movie Review 12,677

The 1992 thriller film Ruby Cairo [Deception] stars the appealing prospect of Andie MacDowell, Liam Neeson and Viggo Mortensen. It flopped but gorgeous scenery – Vera Cruz, Cairo, Berlin, Athens – is lovingly shot in an impressive production. 

Director Graeme Clifford’s 1992 mystery thriller film Ruby Cairo [Deception] stars the appealing prospect of Andie MacDowell, Liam Neeson, Viggo Mortensen, and Jack Thompson.

But Andie MacDowell is tentatively miscast as Bessie Faro, a poor Los Angeles mother of three whose husband Johnny (Viggo Mortensen) is reported dead in a Vera Cruz, Mexico, plane crash. In Mexico for the funeral she meets Fergus Lamb (Liam Neeson), a humanitarian doctor who might not be what he seems, and she discovers a chain of her husband’s bank accounts.

Gorgeous globe-trotting scenery – Vera Cruz, Cairo, Berlin, Athens – is lovingly shot by Laszlo Kovacs in an impressive $24,000,000 production. But even that and John Barry’s lush music can’t disguise this is a derivative, predictable thriller, with a botched screenplay by Robert Dillon and Michael Thomas (based on Robert Dillon’s story) and clumsy handling by Graeme Clifford.

Also in the cast are Paul Spencer, Chad Power, Jeff Corey and Miriam Reed.

John Barry’s theme song ‘The Secrets of My Heart’ has lyric by Cynthia Haagens and Graeme Clifford.

There are two versions: 111 minutes or 90 minutes.

The film flopped at the box office and was recut and retitled Deception when released on video with 21 minutes extra footage.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,677

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