The cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent features Mr. Big played by Chris Noth as Logan, a cast member of Law & Order, along with his female partner played by Cybil's Alicia Witt. In this law and order franchise, they do more investigative work and show the layers of depth and involvement in such crimes. The problem is that the crimes get more complicated but they are slicker than most criminals. In this case, it begins as Ukrainian mail-order bride is found murdered. Her husband is ruled out because of his alibi even though he had the motive. His wife, Anya, is a victim of the cruel blackmailing plan involving a lesbian murderer who also seduces men and controls one Iowa lady into playing the men for fools. I won't go more but it's worth watching again. Lola and Amanda Detmer (from Saving Silverman) is quite capable of doing dramatic as well as comedic work. This episode has some problems but it's worth watching and I'm surprised because I thought I was tired of Law & Order.
4 Reviews
Justice - But At A Price; A Very Good Episode
ccthemovieman-124 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This was an interesting case with a few shocking twists three-quarters of the way through the story. Saying about anything here is going to give away parts of this story, so I'll to just limit my remarks.
Picture yourself on the wrong end of an extortion plot which goes bad and winds up in murder.....and you're the one charged! Other people being blackmailed don't come to your aid. Instead, they lie to cover themselves all the while making you appear more and more guilty.
Even the two "good guys" in here disagree over this case, with "Det. Logan" (Chris Noth) thinking the victim is just that while partner "Nola Falacci" (Alicia Witt) convinced the guy is 100 percent guilty."
The end result is justice but at a huge price. That's the best I can say without spoiling anything. It's a very interesting and involving case. Boy, all I can say is: people are evil!
Picture yourself on the wrong end of an extortion plot which goes bad and winds up in murder.....and you're the one charged! Other people being blackmailed don't come to your aid. Instead, they lie to cover themselves all the while making you appear more and more guilty.
Even the two "good guys" in here disagree over this case, with "Det. Logan" (Chris Noth) thinking the victim is just that while partner "Nola Falacci" (Alicia Witt) convinced the guy is 100 percent guilty."
The end result is justice but at a huge price. That's the best I can say without spoiling anything. It's a very interesting and involving case. Boy, all I can say is: people are evil!
Logan & Falacci Hammer Home the Justice
Johnny_West8 May 2020
Chris Noth was Mike Logan, the first detective in the original Law & Order TV series, from 1990-1995. In Criminal Intent, he reprised his role of Mike Logan for 36 episodes. At the time, I thought it was the greatest thing that could ever have happened.
I have never liked the ham-faced Vincent D'Onofrio since his ridiculous performance as the mentally defective dud recruit in Full Metal Jacket. The D'Onofrio style of getting into the minds of people so they confess is ridiculous. In the real world, 99% of the felons would tell him to go puck himself and laugh at his antics.
So seeing the Criminal Intent format used with a good actor like Chris Noth was a breath of fresh air. Noth always plays Mike Logan as a no-nonsense detective with good instincts. Alicia Witt does an excellent job as his detective partner, but she only played the role of Nola Falacci for five episodes in 2007. The two of them made a good team, and they handled the witnesses and the suspects very well together.
Eric Bogosian was the department head on Criminal Intent from 2006-2010. He does an excellent job here interacting with Noth and Witt, and giving them good ideas to follow up on. Bogosian was very involved in the investigation, and he does a great job in this episode helping Noth and Witt catch the very deceptive, cunning, and manipulative killer.
The suspects are Noah Brezner, played by Josh Pais, who appeared on Criminal Intent twice. In this episode, he is very convincing as a sleazy married writer who gets into trouble because he was cheating on his wife. As all the evidence points to him as the guilty party, even Mike Logan feels sorry for him. But is he guilty??
He counts on his mistress, Tammy, played by Amanda Detmer, to provide an alibi, but she just sinks him further. Logan and Falacci are suspicious of her also, but her sleazy lawyer, played by Lola Glaudini, keeps the detectives at bay. Detmers is excellent as an emotionally confused person who is torn in opposing directions. Logan and Falacci do a great job at pulling her heart-strings.
Her lawyer - girlfriend is played by Lola Glaudini, who was great on Criminal Minds for several years. Here Glaudini is excellent as a psychotic, vicious, manipulating, cunning, and totally vile criminal lawyer. This story has many twists and turns, and all the actors do outstanding work in this episode. It is one of my favorites.
I have never liked the ham-faced Vincent D'Onofrio since his ridiculous performance as the mentally defective dud recruit in Full Metal Jacket. The D'Onofrio style of getting into the minds of people so they confess is ridiculous. In the real world, 99% of the felons would tell him to go puck himself and laugh at his antics.
So seeing the Criminal Intent format used with a good actor like Chris Noth was a breath of fresh air. Noth always plays Mike Logan as a no-nonsense detective with good instincts. Alicia Witt does an excellent job as his detective partner, but she only played the role of Nola Falacci for five episodes in 2007. The two of them made a good team, and they handled the witnesses and the suspects very well together.
Eric Bogosian was the department head on Criminal Intent from 2006-2010. He does an excellent job here interacting with Noth and Witt, and giving them good ideas to follow up on. Bogosian was very involved in the investigation, and he does a great job in this episode helping Noth and Witt catch the very deceptive, cunning, and manipulative killer.
The suspects are Noah Brezner, played by Josh Pais, who appeared on Criminal Intent twice. In this episode, he is very convincing as a sleazy married writer who gets into trouble because he was cheating on his wife. As all the evidence points to him as the guilty party, even Mike Logan feels sorry for him. But is he guilty??
He counts on his mistress, Tammy, played by Amanda Detmer, to provide an alibi, but she just sinks him further. Logan and Falacci are suspicious of her also, but her sleazy lawyer, played by Lola Glaudini, keeps the detectives at bay. Detmers is excellent as an emotionally confused person who is torn in opposing directions. Logan and Falacci do a great job at pulling her heart-strings.
Her lawyer - girlfriend is played by Lola Glaudini, who was great on Criminal Minds for several years. Here Glaudini is excellent as a psychotic, vicious, manipulating, cunning, and totally vile criminal lawyer. This story has many twists and turns, and all the actors do outstanding work in this episode. It is one of my favorites.
Writer's knot
TheLittleSongbird14 April 2021
"Lonelyville" is the second episode to have Logan and Falacci partnered together. The first being "Seeds", which to me was a disappointing episode and a less than promising introduction for the duo. While having always liked Logan a lot, Falacci never really properly did it for me and the chemistry between them likewise. Still re-watched it anyway, in spite of those and also not being a fan of Lola Glaudini, as someone who thinks 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' was a great show in Seasons 1-4 and still has many glimpses of brilliance when it became more uneven.
The good news is that "Lonelyville" is an improvement over the previous Logan and Falacci outing and on the whole it was not a bad episode at all. It also surprised me that the aspect that had low expectations was one of "Lonelyville's" stronger aspects. Having said that, it is regrettable to be the dissenting voice here but to me it had room to be a much better episode than it turned out. Instead of a great episode, for me it was a pretty decent one that started strong and then became over-complicated.
A lot is good here. The production values as ever are slick and with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear with the theme tune still memorable. The episode starts off intriguingly and there are plenty of clever twists and turns that help make the story unpredictable. The script is taut enough and has personality.
Chris Noth carries "Lonelyville" with adept ease, the dry humour, gritty edge and instinct all coming through more than believably. It took me a long time to warm to Ross but he wasn't a problem here. The supporting cast are also very good, while Amanda Detmer plays her conflicted character affectingly the best supporting turn comes from Glaudini in the biggest surprise of the episode. She has the meatiest character and the chilling sleaziness shows that she is capable of good acting, rather than the remote and cold fish type of acting she showed when she was on 'Criminal Minds'.
On the other hand, Alicia Witt still doesn't do it for me. Falacci was always a very hard character to like because her character flaws always seemed overblown in the writing and Witt's acting, and for my tastes Witt fails to bring much subtlety. She and Noth don't gel enough, a case of one character being a lot more interesting than the other and that they are too disconnected and counter-productive as a team.
Did feel too that the ending was very rushed and underdeveloped, so the truth has always come over as rather confusing. In fact, the whole final quarter felt over-complicated and in need of a slowing down. Of the supporting characters, Glaudini's was the only one that came over as complex. The others, no matter how well played they are, are too sketchy with too little learnt about them and their motivations.
In conclusion, decent but not great. 6/10.
The good news is that "Lonelyville" is an improvement over the previous Logan and Falacci outing and on the whole it was not a bad episode at all. It also surprised me that the aspect that had low expectations was one of "Lonelyville's" stronger aspects. Having said that, it is regrettable to be the dissenting voice here but to me it had room to be a much better episode than it turned out. Instead of a great episode, for me it was a pretty decent one that started strong and then became over-complicated.
A lot is good here. The production values as ever are slick and with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear with the theme tune still memorable. The episode starts off intriguingly and there are plenty of clever twists and turns that help make the story unpredictable. The script is taut enough and has personality.
Chris Noth carries "Lonelyville" with adept ease, the dry humour, gritty edge and instinct all coming through more than believably. It took me a long time to warm to Ross but he wasn't a problem here. The supporting cast are also very good, while Amanda Detmer plays her conflicted character affectingly the best supporting turn comes from Glaudini in the biggest surprise of the episode. She has the meatiest character and the chilling sleaziness shows that she is capable of good acting, rather than the remote and cold fish type of acting she showed when she was on 'Criminal Minds'.
On the other hand, Alicia Witt still doesn't do it for me. Falacci was always a very hard character to like because her character flaws always seemed overblown in the writing and Witt's acting, and for my tastes Witt fails to bring much subtlety. She and Noth don't gel enough, a case of one character being a lot more interesting than the other and that they are too disconnected and counter-productive as a team.
Did feel too that the ending was very rushed and underdeveloped, so the truth has always come over as rather confusing. In fact, the whole final quarter felt over-complicated and in need of a slowing down. Of the supporting characters, Glaudini's was the only one that came over as complex. The others, no matter how well played they are, are too sketchy with too little learnt about them and their motivations.
In conclusion, decent but not great. 6/10.
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