Nbc Movie of the Week Shattered Mind

By TONY SCOTT

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NBC Movie of the Week SHATTERED MIND (Mon. (27), 9-11 p.m., NBC)
 
Cast: Heather Locklear, Brett Cullen, Kevin Dunn, Richard Herd, Edward Edwards, Alexa Vega, Caitlyn Wachs, J. Downing, Katherine La Nasa, Caroline Kava, Marnie Andrews, Francois Chau, John Walter Davis, Brad Fisher, Kim Flowers, Ellen Goldwasser, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Curt Kaplan, Michael Mahon, Jeanna Michaels, Michael Nickles, Helen Siff, Jane Stowe, David Todd West. Writer Thomas Baum summons up a surface drama about schizophrenic Suzy (Heather Locklear), a housewife-mother whose blue-collar husband, Sean (Brett Cullen), doesn't pick up on her split personality for a long, long time. Busy as a hooker , babydoll and what's supposed to be a male teenager (actually unisex), Suzy's in trouble. And getting worse.
 

Locklear, helped considerably by director Stephen Gyllenhaal, takes a whack at a character with a multiple-personality disorder similar to those played by Joanne Woodward in "The Three Faces of Eve" and Sally Field in "Sybil." In courthouse parlance, however, it's conviction that counts -- and Locklear, dressed for the role, hair properly disarrayed, various images energetically pursued, doesn't make the character convincing.

TX: TX:Filmed in Los Angeles by Jaffe/Braunstein Films Ltd. Executive producers, Michael Jaffe, Howard Braunstein; producer, Christine Sacani; producer-director, Stephen Gyllenhaal; co-producer, Darrah Cloud; writer, Thomas Baum; Housewife Suzy, mother of two wee ones, takes an abrupt step deeper into psychosis after her doctor father dies. She extends her bizarre odyssey to bar bums, frantic mood swings, smuggling and irregular hours that Sean doesn't question. Eventually she sees a psychologist (Kevin Dunn), which loving Sean understands. Her protective mother, Martha (Caroline Kava), doesn't think much of the therapist and doesn't help matters by telling Suzy so.

Theatrically, Suzy's personalities evolve into dominant and dangerous types. Locklear interps the roles with vigor and theatricalflair, if not plausibility.

Writer Baum has boiled down the cause of Suzy's derangement, indicating it's due to paternal actions when Suzy was a girl. Making the story accessible to living-room clinicians, a former child patient of her father (Katherine La Nasa) tells Suzy blatant facts about the late doctor.

The pat suggestion of swift recovery is a disappointing resolution, failing to explore any other ideas -- genes, her mom -- of why Suzy's so fragmented. Scarcely in a league with "Three Faces of Eve" or "Sybil," the telefilm moves quickly through shallow waters: It'll garner ratings.

"Shattered" punches up a dramatic tale and gives Locklear a flashy showcase. Brett Cullen is able as the husband; Kava's a gem as an interfering mother, while Richard Herd's go-along-with-mom uncle is realistic.

Tech credits are superior.

Camera, John Campbell; editor, William Hoy; art director, Suzette Ervin; sound, Stephen Halbert; music, Kurt Wortman; production designer, Charles M. Lagola; casting, Shana Landsburg.