*****SPOILERS***** Det. Jon Lucca, Edward James Olmos, is slowly dying from the stress of trying to find and arrest "The Scorekeeper" a serial murderer in the San Francisco area. That put him in an detox clinic for his heavy use of alcohol as well as his heavy smoking for over twenty years. "The Scorekeeper" who murdered scores of people during that time had Det. Lucca pick up the suspected murder Llyod Ward, George Dzundza, and go on a long ride with him to finally find out the truth which proved to be fatal for both persons.
The story of Jon and Llyod goes back to 1974 when a series of lovers lane murders occurred in San Francisco with the killer taunting the police by sending them letters boasting of how smart he is and how they'll never catch him. Det. Lucca was put in charge of "The Scorekeeper", the name that the murderer gave himself, murder case. Det. Lucca tracked down the killer for over two years until he came to the conclusion that he was Llyod Ward but didn't have the evidence to prove and arrest him. This made Det. Lucca harass Llyod unmercifully until a person, Jonathan Palis, calling himself "The Scorekeeper" was shot by Det. Lucca and the police at a local strip club. After Palis' death the "Scorekeeper" murder case was closed by the police. Det. Lucca felt that the police killed the wrong man and that the "Scorekeeper Murderer" was still on the loose but the police and media were keeping the killings of "The Scorekeeper" quiet from the general public. It was that reason that Det. Lucca made his decision to meet with Llyod Ward that night to see if he was right or wrong about him.
Pretty good made for TV thriller with some very good acting by it's top stars Edward James Olmos and George Dzundza. Even though the ending was a bit contrived and hard to believe the tension and terror of that ride in the night by both stars did hold up through the entire movie and more then made up for the uneven ending.
I was fascinated by seeing George Dzundza playing the gun-loving and dangerous Llyod Ward. George looked so much like Michael Moore the anti-gun advocate and maker of the anti-gun documentary "Bowling for Calumbine" that every time he was on the screen I had to convince myself that I wasn't seeing things.
