Wizard-8 Made just before the Disney company started its own adult movie division (Touchstone Films), "Trenchcoat was one of several movies the company made in a desperate attempt to change the image of its product while trying to appeal to both adults and kids. Despite the great effort, the end result is a complete misfire. The script is the greatest offender - it is a deadly mix of tired clichés (like when the heroine kills a bad guy but the body disappears when she goes for the police), stupid characters, and a really slow moving (and predictable) plot. The insulting script might explain why the cast doesn't really give any effort to try and liven things up - Margot Kidder is abrasive and annoying, and Robert Hays is vanilla bland. And under the direction of Michael Tuchner, the entire enterprise feels not only very subdued, but cheap and tacky despite the studio filming on location in Malta. The acting careers of the two leads never recovered from this embarrassment, and it's easy to see why.

atlasmb The descriptors "simple" and "uninspired" apply to both this film and its title. It's the story of a stenographer who flies to Malta to write a mystery noir novel during her two week vacation. While there, she inadvertently comes into contact with nefarious elements.Unfortunately, "Trenchcoat" has no charm, no intrigue, no artistic value. Margot Kidder--playing the wannabe writer--looks like she is doing a walk-through. Reportedly she did not get along with the director.The direction and everything else about the film feels amateurish. The only thing that could make it worse would be a laugh track. The main problem is the script, which offers very little that is original. Its main approach seems to be putting the "heroine" in dangerous circumstances and having her lament that no one believes her. Not funny, unless maybe the actress is someone who is intrinsically funny.Avoid this stinker.

gridoon2018 I wasn't aware of the Disney studios' involvement in the production of "Trenchcoat" until I read about it; the final result certainly has few Disney-ish touches. It's more of an 1980s update of classic "innocent caught in an exotic adventure" films like "Charade". Of course Robert Hays and Margot Kidder are not Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, but anyway - Kidder is charming and her body language shows that she has a knack for physical comedy, while Hays is a little bland yet adequate. And there is an extra bonus for fans of the long-running "Poirot" TV series: a young-looking David Suchet appears (only in the first half, though) as a Maltese police inspector, with voice mannerisms that will sound very familiar to anyone (like me) who has closely followed his "Poirot" interpretation through the years. This inspector, by the way, is pretty much the only important character who really is who he claims to be in this twisty tale. The Malta locations are not outstandingly captured, but they're pleasant enough. Forget any possible Disney prejudices and watch this one. **1/2 out of 4.

HeartMonger Margot Kidder is unstoppable. She will always be there when you need to be entertained. This film was one of the Disney film which were made to change the image of the company. Needless to say by the films controversy, it did.Kidder is ambitious, hard edged writer on her way to write her first big mystery novel, when she stumbles upon Hayes, a lier and fraud, who turns out to be working for... Leave that up to audiences. Kidder falls upon a real plot of terror and adventure when she is kidnapped and taken to a hotel where murder and mayhem ensues. Then things get really ugly. Hayes and Kidder have great chemistry together. Intellect and acting makes up for some lulls earlier on in the film, and when you see the "Club scene" with "Princess Aida"... Laughs and even a bit of tension highlight this film with strange yet watchable locations, and bit of Italian! 8/10