1981 was Hollywood’s year of the model. ‘81 marked the release of MODEL, Frederick Wiseman’s documentary probe of the modelling industry, and LOOKER, a very pointed SF thriller from writer-director Michael Crichton that featured Albert Finney, THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY’s Susan Dey and nearly every major model of the time (including Randi Brooks and a very young Vanna White). The film was heavily criticized in its day (Leonard Maltin called it “illogically and boringly handled” and bemoaned that “even Finney cannot save this turkey”) yet in recent years it’s been rebranded a prophetic masterpiece, which I say is unjustified—although the “prophetic” designation is on target.
Lisa Convey (Terri Welles), an model-actress patient of the Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Larry Roberts (Finney), is zapped one night with a gun-like contraption that fractures her consciousness and results in a deadly fall from the balcony of her upper floor apartment. Her demise mimics those of two previous Roberts patients, and is followed by that of Tina Cassidy (Kathryn Witt), who prior to the attack demanded that Roberts restore her features to the way they were, as cosmetically enhanced models are apparently getting killed for being “too perfect.”
Roberts is inspired to mount an investigation into the deaths, together with another client: Cindy Fairmont (Dey). The investigation leads them to Digital Matrix, a research company run by one James Reston (James Coburn). Digital Matrix utilizes an early form of motion capture technology, scanning a model’s features to create a virtual reality video copy (heady concepts in 1981) for use in TV commercials.
Robert and Cindy also learn of a Reston-initiated “Looker” project that involves hypnotic signals embedded in TV commercials and guns that shoot light beams capable of scrambling one’s sense of time. It was such guns that caused the deaths of Roberts’ clients, who were killed because, as Tina Cassidy claimed, they were too perfect, and so offered serious competition to the VR models. Lots of action follows as Reston’s goons try to stop Roberts from revealing to the world what he’s learned.
This is a movie whose best elements were directly recalled, and bettered, in later films. Included in that category is a hallucinatory action sequence involving clips from actual early 1980s TV commercials intercut with Dr. Roberts being repeatedly zapped with the light gun, which found its echo in the vastly superior VIDEODROME (1983). Likewise, the climax, in which Roberts and Reston interact with the computerized models in TV commercials, was outdone by that of SHOCKER (1989).
As Mr. Maltin pointed out, the usually impeccable Albert Finney fails to do much with material that’s never very stimulating, and Susan Day and James Coburn offer tepid support. Crichton provided them very little to work with, bland characterizations being a recurring issue in Crichton’s narratives.
Another recurring Crichton issue is the undistinguished workman-like filmmaking. As in other self-directed films like WESTWORLD (1973), COMA (1978) and RUNAWAY (1984), Crichton sought to let his conceptions speak for themselves in a resolutely non-showy cinematic treatment—but those conceptions, while quite fanciful in their day (with Crichton informing a STARLOG interviewer he was concerned the film might be “too farfetched”), are no longer very novel or interesting. LOOKER deserves credit for its many on-target predictions, having been ahead of its time in 1981, but it’s since fallen far behind.
Vital Statistics
LOOKER
The Ladd Company
Director/Screenplay: Michael Crichton
Producer: Howard Jeffrey
Cinematography: Paul Lohmann
Editing: Carl Kress
Cast: Albert Finney, James Coburn, Susan Dey, Leigh Taylor-Young, Dorian Harewood, Tom Rossovich, Darryl Hickman, Kathryn Witt, Terri Welles, Michael Gainsborough, Ashley Cox, Donna Benz, Catherine Parks, Randi Brooks, Vanna White