''Matter of Trust'' is a 1997

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

erotic

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Joey Travolta Joseph Allen Travolta (born October 14, 1950) is an American actor, singer, producer, director and screenwriter. He is the older brother of actor John Travolta. Early life Travolta was born and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, a nearby suburb ...

and written by John Penney. Model and dancer

Dita Von Teese Heather Renée Sweet (born September 28, 1972), known professionally as Dita Von Teese, is an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman. She is credited with re-popularizing burlesque performance, earning the moniker "Queen ...

played a small role. Other cast members include:

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

as Michael D'Angelo,

Joan Severance Joan Marie Severance (December 23, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. Early life Severance was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Martha and John C. Severance. Her father was an IBM systems manager who had to move freq ...

as Theresa Marsh,

Nick Mancuso Nicodemo Antonio Massimo Mancuso (born May 29, 1948) is an Italian-Canadian actor, artist, playwright, and director. Beginning his career as a stage actor, he had his breakthrough role in the 1981 drama ''Ticket to Heaven'', for which he won the ...

as Peter Marsh, Robert Miano as Ben and Jennifer Leigh Warren as Janet.

Premise

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

is building a case against a suspected

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

. She receives

death threats A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a deat ...

, but ignores them at first. Until he husband disappears and someone

blackmails Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fami ...

her. She then turns to her ex-husband, a suspended

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Cast

as Michael D'Angelo *

as Theresa Marsh *

as Peter Marsh *

Robert Miano Robert Miano (born September 25, 1942) is an American actor. Early life Robert Miano was born in New York City and raised in the Southeast Bronx neighborhood. He is of Italian descent. At the age of fifteen Robert Miano was discovered by a tale ...

as Ben *

Jennifer Leigh Warren Jennifer Leigh Warren is an American stage, television, film, and voice-over actress/singer who first came to the world's attention for her work in professional musical theater. She is best known for originating the role of Crystal in the Howard As ...

as Janet *

Randee Heller Randee Heller (born Randee Antzis; June 10, 1947) is an American television and film actress known for playing Alice in the 1970s sitcom ''Soap'' – one of television's first lesbian characters – as well as for portraying Lucille LaRusso in ...

as Stoddard * Corbin Timbrook as Danzig * John V. Barbieri as Sandblaster * Eddie Ebell as Billt * Natasha Espledra as Heather * George Georgiadis as Santos *

Melissa Greenspan Melissa Greenspan is an American actress known for her recurring roles as Kim on ''Providence (American TV series), Providence'' and as Cindy on the ''Desperate Housewives''. She also appeared in ''Party of Five'', ''Saved by the Bell: The New Cl ...

as Sara * Claire Jacobs as Ivy * Susie McDonnell as Kim *

Vincent Riotta Vincenzo Ricotta (born 14 October 1959), professionally known as Vincent Riotta, is a British actor. Career Riotta studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He went on to perform in various stage plays, such as Shakespeare's ''Romeo'', wh ...

as Johnny * Harold Green as AA Spokesman * Dayna Danika as The Receptionist * Sharone Carmi as Newscaster *

Julia Verdin Julia Verdin is a British independent film writer, director, producer and founder of Rough Diamond Productions, established in 1993. She has produced over 36 feature films and is best known for '' Stander'', starring Thomas Jane, ''The Merchant of V ...

as Newscaster *

as Girl With C.T.

External links

*
New York Times Movie Review
1997 films American independent films 1990s American films {{indie-film-stub