Eyes of Laura Mars is a very stylish thriller [from a story by John Carpenter] in search of a better ending.
Faye Dunaway stars as a chic fashion photographer with mysterious and accurate premonitions about a series of murders. All of the victims are either friends or associates. Tommy Lee Jones, in an inspired bit of casting, plays a police lieutenant assigned to the case and an integral element in the mystery. Brad Dourif as Dunaway’s driver, Rene Auberjonois as her trendy and obnoxious manager and Raul Julia as her ex-husband, add marvelous supporting performances.
Especially well handled are the screen realizations of Dunaway’s premonitions. They look like a blurred videotape, as she explains to Jones at one point, a conception which works well on screen.
The relationships among the characters, Dunaway’s portrayal of a chic and haggard photographer-artist and even the choice of Helmut Newton and Rebecca Blake’s violent and stark photos as the work of the fictional Dunaway character are satisfying and engaging.
