Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) awakens to the sound of shattering glass. Jumping out of bed, she finds that her personal chef is destroying her fine China and anything else breakable. His paycheck bounced and he is furious. Maddie soon discovered that her accounting firm had vanished along with all her money. However, she still had some assets. Of course, there was the house, cars, and so forth, but she also had a series of small businesses, all that existed to lose money for tax purposes. One of those businesses was a detective agency headed by David Addison (Bruce Willis). Though Maddie fired David and all the staff, he repeatedly pressed her to reconsider. Like a bad penny, he kept turning up. Then, a man fell dead at their feet. Flung together in a case of Nazi diamonds, Maddie warms to the detective life despite - or maybe because of - the many dangers.
This TV movie was the pilot for the successful goofball series that followed and launched Bruce Willis' career. It does have quirky comedy though it is often slow. The scenes where side characters are pursued last far too long. Rather than building tension, it felt more like an effort to fill time. The climactic scene where the villain follows Addison onto a precarious ladder was beyond belief. In fact, much of the mystery remains unexplained at the end. Who was Simon and how did he figure into the background? Doesn't matter. Why did Blond Mohawk (that is how he is listed in the credits) not have his gun, thus allowing himself to be an easy target later in the episode? Of course, all the mystery stuff is just there to provide background for the comic interactions between Maddie and David. Success.
Good popcorn fun.
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