Hear No Evil MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -2 1/2

Imagine a "friend" planting a stolen priceless coin in your possession without telling you. Then imagine the fear and anger you experience when you realize someone is trying to kill you. Now imagine being deaf, unable to hear intruders ransacking your apartment with you in the next room. That is precisely the situation Jillian (Marlee Matlin) becomes the center of in HEAR NO EVIL. She is a marathon runner, personal fitness trainer and a very independent young woman in spite of her disability. The villain, police lieutenant Brock (Martin Sheen), has ordered the killing of the previous possessors of the coin - one the original thief and the other, a hopeful reporter turned greedy. Jillian experiences one fright after another, and just when you think she's safe, another unexpected twist jolts the audience. Romance is provided by Van Campbell (D.B. Sweeney), who befriends Jillian and even learns sign language to better communicate with her. The Portland, Oregon, setting is beautiful, but some of the action scenes are confusing and seem designed just for fright. HEAR NO EVIL will disappoint suspense lovers.

As the Rodney King trial continues, the flames of public unrest will be fanned by this portrayal of police as brutal and ruthless. The uncontrolled cruelty of Lt. Brock as he beats suspects unmercifully is hard to watch. During the opening credits a guard is shot point-blank. In self-defense Jillian strikes a man in the groin with a wooden post. She is terrorized when an intruder threatens her by tracing her face with a knife. One man crashes through a glass window to his death. Property damage includes a car exploding in an attempt to kill the driver and police wrecking Jillian's apartment. No Hollywood romance about a contemporary couple would be complete without a sexual relationship. Jillian and Van are shown in bed together twice with sex implied. A scene of Jillian emersed in a bubble bath reveals her bare breasts very briefly. While his efforts to learn sign language are admirable, Van is mostly interested in learning words relating to sex. Jillian is more than happy to oblige. Many obscenities and profanities are interjected throughout as well. Films like this make many of us yearn for Alfred Hitchcock, who could entertain without offending.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: 20th Century Fox, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213