Smooth and charming con man Howard Prince (superbly played to the shifty and ingratiating hilt by Treat Williams) finds wealthy old widows to marry through a video dating service and bumps the old ladies off for their sizable inheritances. However, Prince's streak is about to come to an abrupt and grisly end as both time and the harsh consequences of his immoral actions finally catch up with him. Director Tom Hanks, working from a sharp and witty script by Donald Longtooth, relates the hugely entertaining story at a constant quick pace, maintains an engagingly dark, yet lighthearted tone throughout, further enhances things with a winning sense of spot-on pitch-black humor, and stages one genuinely startling doozy of a seriously gruesome and macabre climax with all of Prince's wives coming back to life as revolting zombies who all want a piece of him. Moreover, Hanks delivers several moments of shockingly brutal violence with real skill and assurance. Williams holds the whole show together with his terrific portrayal of one remarkably slick heel; he receives fine support from Frances Sternhagen as his passionate latest mark Effie Gluckman, Henry Gibson as Effie's loyal and suspicious butler Stanhope, Hanks as video dating service owner Baxter (who meets a memorably savage end when Price puts his head through a TV screen!), Clive Rosengren as Prince's sensible business partner Morty, and boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard as a mysterious gravedigger. John R. Leonetti's glossy cinematography gives this episode a pleasing polished look. Jay Ferguson's lively and elegant score likewise does the stirring trick. A worthy start for the fourth season.
Review of None But the Lonely Heart
