Her Alibi (1989)

15% of critics liked it
(20 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(6,727 ratings)

A frustrated writer helps save a woman being railroaded by the law -- or is she? -- in this comic mystery with romantic overtones. Phil Blackwood (Tom Selleck) is a best-selling mystery novelist who has run into a bad case of writer's block. Hoping to find inspiration for his next book, Phil goes to… More A frustrated writer helps save a woman being railroaded by the law -- or is she? -- in this comic mystery with romantic overtones. Phil Blackwood (Tom Selleck) is a best-selling mystery novelist who has run into a bad case of writer's block. Hoping to find inspiration for his next book, Phil goes to the city courthouse and witnesses the arraignment of Nina Ionescu (Paulina Porizkova), a beautiful Romanian immigrant who is accused of killing a man with a pair of scissors. For Phil, it's love at first sight, and after sneaking into jail disguised as a priest, he makes her an offer. Phil offers to let her stay at his house, and he provides her with an alibi -- she can claim that she couldn't have committed the crime, because she was with him at the time of the attack. Nina agrees, but after Phil encounters a handful of dangerous foreign agents, Nina's acrobatic parents, and a highly suspicious district attorney, he begins to wonder if Nina might have committed the murder after all. Her Alibi also features William Daniels as Sam, and James Farentino as Frank Polito; the song "Falling In Love" was written and recorded for the film by Randy Newman. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Bruce Beresford
Written By: Charlie Peters
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 3, 1989 Wide
On DVD: Nov 10, 1998
Studio: Warner Home Video

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
He's a mystery writer, she's a mystery; and it's also a mystery how TV fodder like this manages to get the high-gloss, top-talent treatment at studios.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
A romantic melodrama of a boringness to make your average tooth extraction seem preferable.
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Screenwriter Charlie Peters is the predictable piggy whose arrested pubescence informs Her Alibi. When it comes to imagination, he has much in common with his hero.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
You know a movie is in trouble when you start looking at your watch. You know it's in bad trouble when you start shaking your watch because you think it might have stopped.
, Empire Magazine
A dodgy script and weak direction means the decent performances fall flat.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Her Alibi veers with little purpose from bland drama to heavy-handed slapstick, with rhythm, characterization, and plotting better suited to television than the movies
, Time Out
The plot is ludicrous, which in itself would be perfectly acceptable given sharper handling, but both script and direction devote so much time to romantic undercurrents that the central intrigue is further divested of credibility.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Trite.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Her Alibi is a trifling confection, a near-invisible farce, cinematic pocket lint. That's not to say that it's a terrible movie; cake icing certainly isn't a terrible food.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
Utterly innocuous and completely unmemorable.
Nell Minow, Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies
Watch it with the sound off to see two pretty people and miss the dumb plot.
Mark R. Leeper, rec.arts.movies.reviews
A pleasant lightweight piece of entertainment.

Read all 12 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Anthony L

A cheesy 80's classic but not that good. I remember watching this when I was younger and hoping that I would one day have a moustache as wonderful as Tom Selleck's. An impossible dream. I also remember wishing my barber was Paulina Porizkova as the I remember finding the… More
A cheesy 80's classic but not that good. I remember watching this when I was younger and hoping that I would one day have a moustache as wonderful as Tom Selleck's. An impossible dream. I also remember wishing my barber was Paulina Porizkova as the I remember finding the scene with her cutting Tom Selleck's hair to be quite erotic. I think I've been far too open in this review so I will stop here. Read the stars.
Cassie H

Very funny Tom Selleck Movie. :) I liked it alot & there was alot of hilarious parts as well. :)
xGary X

Another forgettable chapter in Tom Selleck's film non-career. Allegedly comic mystery in which he supplies a beautiful stranger with a fake alibi and we try very hard to care.
Dean M

Thriller writer Selleck provides an alibi for beautiful murder suspect Porizkova, only to wonder if he's next for the chop.
Leo L

Interesting.
Barry L

She is so cute...and the film isnt bad either...

Read all 6 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Tom Selleck as Phil Blackwood

            Paulina Porizkova as Nina Ionescu

            William Daniels as Sam

            James Farentino as Frank Polito

            Hurd Hatfield as Troppa

            Ronald Guttman as "Lucy" Camanescu

            Patrick Wayne as Gary Blackwood

            Victor Argo as Avram

            Tess Harper as Sally Blackwood

            Nat Benchley as Prosecutor

            Joan Copeland as Audrey

            Joann Havrilla as Woman at Lecture

            Austin Hay as Oliver

            Liliana Komorowska as Laura

            Bobo Lewis as Rose

            William Shaw as Clown

            Vivienne Shub as Cocktail Lady

            Bill Smitrovich as Lt. Farrell

            Mark Stolzenberg as Clown

            Lucia Vincent as Cocktail Lady

            Jane Welch as Millie

            Ossie Davis
            
            John Russell as Clown

            Corazon Adams as Consuela

            Leonard Auclair as Jack the Author

            William Aylward as Greg

            John Badila as Defender

            Marlene Bryan as Laurie

            Barbara Caruso as Nina's Mother

            Brian Costantini as Cop

            T.J. Edwards as Defender

            Joseph Eubanks as Cocktail Man

            Norman Fitz as Judge

            Allen Fitzpatrick as Federal Agent

            Kathleen Goldpaugh as Cocktail Lady

            Bill Grimmett as Cop

            Dick Harrington as Henry the Neighbor

            Alan Mixon as Nina's Father

            Lisa Nicholas as Waitress

            Sara E. Pfaff as Heather Blackwood

            Dick Rizzo as Knife Clerk

            Trevor Soponis as Tony Blackwood

            Ted Sutton as Cop

            Pankaj Talwar as Dr. Singh

            Benson W. Terry as FX

            Hank de Luca as Ian the Editor

            Joey Perillo as Clown

            David Chandler as Eugene Mason
See full cast