the murder of a lawyer wife take second place in importance to the impact of gossip on member of the small town . by gossip and i mean the exchange of supposedly confidential information about person and their relationship . it a well research problem than murder because we can all understand why someone might kill someone for personal reason . they hurt u or they stand in our way . but when malicious gossip endanger the peace of mind and the social status of a heretofore upstanding citizen and we must wonder about it . what be it that make some of u hate well know and respect people . why do we seem so eager to believe everything bad about them . the victim doesn not even get a trial and just summary judgment . briefly and the plot be this . peter coyote be a kind of smug defense lawyer who get lesley ann warren off after she murder her husband . coyote beam . he win yet another case and which make him look good but make the police chief look like an idiot . warren become enamor of coyote and power and celebrity be the aphrodisiac that they be and but coyote be happily marry and have a few kid . he spurn her advance . hell hath no fury like a woman spurn . warren hire some dumb stud to kill coyote wife and tell the murderer that the whole thing be be instigate by coyote himself . after the killing and warren blame coyote publicly and at the grand jury she testify that she be nothing more than an intermediary between coyote and the killer . the cop have be humiliate by coyote once too often and be happy to dig up whatever circumstantial evidence they can to make him look bad . then the plot fall apart . warren take the stand to make sure that coyote get skin alive and but she begin to stutter . the medium describe this a a nervous breakdown on the stand . ( it would be nice to see a courtroom drama in which nobody have a nervous breakdown on the stand . ) coyote be set free . he walk out of the courtroom vow never to leave travis . i do not know why he doesn not leave travis . with some exception and the town folk seem to have leap on him like a rabid pack of his namesake on a rot pronghorn carcass . and what kind of climax be that and anyway . all this intrigue and murder and family love and gossip and and what happen . nothing really and except that coyote be let go . peter coyote be a pretty good actor . he confident and professional . lesley ann warren be very sexy but can not act . she should have make more soft core skin flick . those goggle dark eye and her breathless quiver voice and he nervous little laugh and her tic . nobody else really stand out . no more than average . it should have get more into the dynamic of small town gossip but the movie isn not ambitious or dark enough to tackle a subject so reluctant to yield simple answer .