Alibi

At the start of this lightweight crime thriller from McCarty (Deadly Resurrection), tech CEO Martin Koll wakes up with a terrible hangover to confront two NYPD detectives who suspect him of his wife’s murder. Martin knows that during the crime he was at a bar, getting drunk and chatting innocently with a young actor. The bartender, however, refuses to back his alibi, and no one has heard of the actor. Martin later persuades the bartender to tell the truth—but the man immediately falls over dead with a screwdriver sticking out of his back. Martin goes on the run, his only support coming from his company’s beautiful communications director, Jennifer Fleming, who acts as his assistant. Martin and Jennifer do track down the actor—but she’s not an entirely dependable witness as she’s now in treatment for “melancholic depression.” And so it goes, one catastrophic reversal after another. Scene by scene, this yarn is smart and vivid, but the breathless plot jerks Martin around a few too many times. Fans of slapstick humor will have fun. (Jan.)