''Rainbow Drive'' is a 1990 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

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

Bobby Roth Robert Jay Roth (born 1950) is an American television and film director, screenwriter and producer. Life and career Born and raised in Los Angeles, Roth began his tertiary education at the University of California, Berkeley studying philoso ...

and starring

Peter Weller Peter Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American film and stage actor, television director, and art historian. He has appeared in more than 70 films and television series, including ''RoboCop'' (1987) and its sequel ''RoboCop 2'' (1990), in whic ...

Sela Ward Sela Ann Ward (born July 11, 1956) is an American actress, author, and producer. Her breakthrough TV role was as Teddy Reed in the NBC drama series ''Sisters'' (1991–1996), for which she received her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...

and

David Caruso David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is a retired American actor and producer, best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on the ABC crime drama ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–94) and Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the CBS series ''CSI: Miami ...

. The film first aired on September 8, 1990, on the Showtime Cable Network. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by

Roderick Thorp Roderick Mayne Thorp, Jr. (September 1, 1936 – April 28, 1999) was an American novelist specializing mainly in police procedural/crime novels. His novel '' The Detective'' was adapted into a film of the same name in 1968. Thorp is also better ...

. ''Rainbow Drive'' was given a very limited theatrical release. It was released in America and the UK on VHS. The film was nominated for one Mystfest award, for "Best Film" (Bobby Roth). The soundtrack was scored by

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

, but was never released as a stand-alone release. The title track was later included on the bootleg ''Prayer of Quiet Dreams'' in 1993.

Plot

Mike Gallagher is one of Los Angeles' top cops, who is acting head of Hollywood's homicide division. But Gallagher is soon wrenched out of his orderly existence into a dirty world of killing and corruption. Gallagher's affair with a married woman leads him to stumble across a vicious scene of multiple murders on L.A. highway Rainbow Drive. Gallagher senses something strange when reinforcements arrive even before he has called them. When his superiors freeze him out of the case, Gallagher begins his own investigation. With the help of mysterious ally Laura Demming, Gallagher draws closer to the truth, and danger moves closer to his partner and mistress. His investigation propels him into a web of drugs and vice, corruption and cover-up - an intricate web that implicates some of the city's most senior figures.

Cast

as Mike Gallagher *

as Laura Demming *

as Larry Hammond *

Tony Jay Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive bari ...

as Max Hollister *

James Laurenson James Laurenson (born 17 February 1940) is a New Zealand stage and screen actor. Early life Laurenson was born in Marton, North Island, New Zealand. He was a student at Canterbury University College in Christchurch (now University of Canter ...

as Hans Roehrig *

Jon Gries Jonathan Gries ( '; born June 17, 1957) is an American actor, writer, and director. He is best known for the role of Uncle Rico in '' Napoleon Dynamite '' for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, an ...

as Azzolini * Henry G. Sanders as Marvin Burgess *

Chris Mulkey Chris Mulkey (born May 3, 1948) is an American film and television actor. Career Mulkey played the supporting role of husband to Annie Potts's character in '' Any Day Now'' from 1998 to 2002. He has also appeared in '' Captain Phillips'', '' ...

as Ira Rosenberg * David Neidorf as Bernie Maxwell *

Bruce Weitz Bruce Peter Weitz (born May 27, 1943) is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the TV series ''Hill Street Blues'', which ran from 1981 until 1987. Weitz won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

as Dan Crawford *

Chelcie Ross Chelcie Claude RossAccording to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Searchable at http://www.familytreelegends.com/records ...

as Tom Cutler *

Rutanya Alda Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), ''Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). S ...

as Marge Crawford *

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for playing Karen Walker on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award no ...

as Ava Zieff * Michael Bruce as Rudy

Critical reception

Jason Ankeny of Allmovie gave the film three out of five stars, stating: "In this made-for-cable adaptation of Roderick Thorp's crime thriller, Peter Weller stars as a Hollywood cop whose murder investigation runs into a wall of police corruption." The book ''Video Movie Guide 1996'' awarded the film two and a half stars out of five, while ''VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever'' gave the film two out of five stars.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0100455 1990 films 1990 television films 1990 thriller films Films set in Los Angeles Films scored by Tangerine Dream Films directed by Bobby Roth Showtime (TV network) films American thriller films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films