There's really not a whole lot to say about this low budget made-for-TV drama about two families whose lives intersect as a result of an accident involving a young girl and a drunk driver. The courtroom sequence in the second half contains some tension. And the overall acting is decent.
Maybe in its day the movie had some merit as a propaganda tool. But a generation later, the film's blunt, too-direct theme is highly off-putting. The story is not particularly entertaining. Indeed, it is something of a downer. Characters are all cardboard cutouts, lacking any degree of complexity. The family of the victim is highly respectable and squeaky clean. The head of the other family is an arrogant businessman named Tom Fiske (Don Murray) who is easy to dislike. The film's plot is trite and predictable. Script dialogue contains very little subtext. And the film's low-key piano score reeks of cheap elevator music.
I can think of no reason to recommend "License To Kill". Its thematic message of don't-drink-and-drive has long since been pounded and beaten into Americans, the highly moralistic theme belabored, ordained, and codified in countless other ways. To find films with relevant social themes, the viewer will need to look elsewhere.
Maybe in its day the movie had some merit as a propaganda tool. But a generation later, the film's blunt, too-direct theme is highly off-putting. The story is not particularly entertaining. Indeed, it is something of a downer. Characters are all cardboard cutouts, lacking any degree of complexity. The family of the victim is highly respectable and squeaky clean. The head of the other family is an arrogant businessman named Tom Fiske (Don Murray) who is easy to dislike. The film's plot is trite and predictable. Script dialogue contains very little subtext. And the film's low-key piano score reeks of cheap elevator music.
I can think of no reason to recommend "License To Kill". Its thematic message of don't-drink-and-drive has long since been pounded and beaten into Americans, the highly moralistic theme belabored, ordained, and codified in countless other ways. To find films with relevant social themes, the viewer will need to look elsewhere.