Looker
 Susan Dey in "Looker" | ||
| Starring | Albert Finney, James Coburn, Susan Dey, Leigh Taylor-Young, Terri Welles | |
| Directed by | Michael Crichton | |
| Produced by | Howard Jeffrey | |
| Written by | Michael Crichton | |
| Editing by | Carl Kress | |
| Studio | The Ladd Company | |
| Music by | Barry De Vorzon | |
| Cinematography | Paul Lohmann | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. | |
| Released | October 30, 1981 | |
| Runtime | 94 minutes | |
| Country | United States | |
| language | English | |
| Budget | $8 million | |
| Gross | $3,281,232 | |
"Looker" is a 1981 American science-fiction thriller–horror film written and directed by Michael Crichton and starring Albert Finney, Susan Dey, and James Coburn. The film is a suspense/science-fiction piece that comments upon and satirizes media, advertising, television's effects on the populace, and a ridiculous standard of beauty.
Though sparse in visual effects, the film is notable for being the first commercial film to attempt to make a realistic computer-generated character, for the model named Cindy. It was also the first film to create three-dimensional (3D) shading with a computer, months before the release of the better-known Tron.
Plot
Dr. Larry Roberts (Finney), a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, is puzzled when four beautiful models working in television commercials request cosmetic surgery to make changes so minor as to be imperceptible to the naked eye. When these models later start dying under mysterious circumstances, he discovers they are all linked to the same advertisement research firm.
The Digital Matrix research firm rates advertising models using a scoring system to measure the combined visual impact of various physical attributes in television commercials. In an experiment to increase their scores, some models are sent to Dr. Roberts to get cosmetic surgery to maximize their visual impact. Though the models are physically perfect after the surgery, they still are not as effective as desired, so the research firm decides to use a different approach. Each model is offered a contract to have her body scanned digitally to create 3D computer-generated models, then the 3D models are animated for use in commercials. The contracts seem to be incredibly lucrative for the models; once their bodies are represented digitally, they get a paycheck for life, never having to work again, since their digital models are used for all their future work in commercials.
However, when these same models start dying under mysterious circumstances, Roberts becomes suspicious and decides to investigate Digital Matrix. He has a strong interest in investigating the deaths: he is considered a prime suspect by the police (from evidence planted at the scene of one of the murders) and his most recent patient, (with whom he is in a relationship) Cindy (Susan Dey). Cindy is the last of the models to be digitally scanned.
During his investigation, Roberts discovers some advanced technology that the Digital Matrix corporation is using to hypnotize consumers into buying the products they advertise. He also discovers the "Light Ocular-Oriented Kinetic Emotive Responses" (L.O.O.K.E.R.) gun, a light pulse device that gives the illusion of invisibility by instantly mesmerizing its victims into losing all sense of time.
Cast
- Albert Finney as Dr. Larry Roberts
- James Coburn as John Reston
- image:Looker-SusanDay01.jpg
- Leigh Taylor Young as Jennifer Long
- Dorian Harewood as Lieutenant Masters
- Darryl Hickman as Dr. Jim Belfield
- Terri Welles as Lisa Convey
- Terry Kiser as commercial director
- Susan Day as Cindy Fairmont
External links
Review Looker at the Internet Movie Database
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