Faithful: Starring Cher is Yet Another Comeback?

A case of Oscar angst, fear, or laziness?

Probably, all of the above, for in the seven years that elapsed from winning a Best Actress Oscar for Moonstruck, beautiful entrepreneur Cher has made exactly one film, Mermaids.

Her new movie, Faithful, is yet another Cher comeback in her long, erratic career as a celeb, better known for singing, concert and fashion than acting..

Faithful is based on a stage play by co-star Palminteri; Robert DeNiro, who made his directorial debut with A Bronx Tale, written by Palminteri, served as co-producer for this film.

In this unfunny and unthrilling comedy-thriller, Cher plays Margaret O’Donnell, a woman surprised to discover that her philandering hubby (Ryan O’Neal) may have hired a hit man (Chazz Palminteri) to kill her.

This is a wannabe suspenseful cat-and-mouse-game about how Margaret turns the tables on the unsuspecting man, who finds himself deceived and seduced by the very woman he holds captive.

Based on a play by Oscar-nominated Chazz Palminteri (Bullets Over Broadway), it’s produced by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal and directed by Paul Mazursky, who desperately needed a success after the failure of Pickle.

What a waste of acting and directing talents.  Unfortunately, Faithful turned out to be the swan son in Mazursky’s otherwise impressive career/

Detailed Plot

A hit man discovers the pros and cons of getting to know his victim. Cher’s Margaret is supposed to be  celebrating her 20th wedding anniversary, but her marriage is in sad shape.  Her husband Jack (Ryan O’Neal) has just called to say he’s going to be working late,  suning her into a deep depression that borders on the suicidal.

After a long bath, Margaret discovers that she’s not alone in the house: Palminteri’s Tony, a hit man, has been hired by Jack to killer her so he can make a $5 million insurance claim. Heties her to a chair, waiting for a call from Jack that signals he’s out of town and that it’s all right to proceed with the execution.

While waiting, Tony and Margaret begin to talk, and Margaret starts to feel like death isn’t such a good idea after all, while Tony isn’t so sure he wants to kill her anymore.