Bullet Points: Donato and Daughter
In the latter stages of his career, Charles Bronson found himself starring in numerous made for TV movies for CBS. This was at the same time Chuck Norris was a major piece of CBS’ prime time puzzle, thanks to the success of Walker, Texas Ranger. If CBS had aired the Michael Dudikoff series, Cobra, people would probably start to wonder if CBS stood for Cannon Broadcasting System.
In this edition of Bullet Points, I will be looking back at the first of four movies that Bronson did for CBS, 1993’s Donato and Daughter…
- Sister, Sister: There is a serial killer in Los Angeles that is targeting nuns… sexually assaulting them, murdering them and cutting off their ring fingers. As the movie begins, Sgt. Mike Donato (Charles Bronson, Death Wish) and his partner show up to the latest nun murder scene and begin investigating… it’s not long before Mike’s daughter, Lt. Dena Donato (Dana Delany, Tombstone) and her partner show up and you can sense the immediate tension between the father and daughter… When Dena is selected to head up the team investigating the nun murders, the Chief suggests that Dena select her father for the team. Dena responds that her father wasn’t on her list, but is smart enough to know when the brass makes a “suggestion” it’s actually an order, so she swallows her pride and asks Mike to join the team and that’s not the most productive conversation the father and daughter have ever had.
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?: The problems between Dena and her father all stem from her now deceased brother, Tommy. Tommy, like Dena and Mike, was a cop and it is clear that there is something about Tommy’s death that Mike is not sharing… and it is that secret that has driven a wedge between Mike and his family. But there is a killer on the loose and that takes priority over any family drama… but, realizing this may be an opportunity to get rid of that wedge, when Dena pairs off the team members, she pairs herself up with her dad… which makes sense given the title of the movie.
- Mother F#*ck%r: When another nun turns up dead in the elevator of an apartment building, the team begins questioning the residents of the building. And they get two possible suspects as a result. Although it was pretty clear that Russ Loring (Xander Berkeley, Bulletproof) was the guy from the moment he appeared on screen. If it wasn’t obvious to everyone that Russ was the guy, there’s a scene righter after he is questioned by Dena and Mike, where Russ goes to a locker and flips through some pictures he has of Dena and then he pulls out his jar of severed fingers (minus the one he sent to Dena’s young son earlier in the movie. Yep, Russ is one sick bastard!). But it’s one thing for us, the viewers, to know Russ is the killer, now we need our detectives to gather the evidence that is needed to prove it.
- Father Time: Our cops starting digging into Russ Loring’s background, including Mike Donato taking a trip out to the little town in Arizona where Russ grew up. Mike talks to the now retired police chief of the town and that’s when he learns that Russ had a girlfriend back then, a girlfriend who made the decision to join the convent, but before she should follow her calling… she disappeared! The chief was never able to pin the disappearance on Russ, partially because Russ’ mother swore that her son was home the night the girl went missing… The cops also learn that Russ moved to Texas after his days in Arizona. And there was a string of nuns murdered in Texas too and when Russ left for California, those murders stopped… So now the cops just need to get Russ to crack and that means some mind games! Like a Donato driving on either side of Russ (in a scene straight out of 10 to Midnight) and the Donatos having lunch at the same place Russ is having lunch… And it works, Russ plays right into their hands… By 1993, father time was finally catching up to Charles Bronson. His days of taking out entire street gangs and drug cartels were winding down and Donato and Daughter was definitely not the typical Bronson film. But there was still only one way to properly end this movie… and that’s with Bronson’s Mike Donato blowing Russ Loring away, which is a typical Bronson movie ending!
Charles Bronson’s screen presence and star power elevated Donato and Daughter above your typical made for TV movie and in my opinion, even above the Family of Cops movies Bronson would go on to star in for CBS… Bronson had to put his acting shoes and he pulled his weight, right along side Dana Delany, who gave a strong and believable performance.
So if you are in the mood for a quality TV movie, that your grandparents may have enjoyed back on September 21, 1993, then order yourself a pizza from Donato’s and give Donato and Daughter a watch (it’s currently on YouTube). And if you are in the mood for some Bonus Bullet Points, keep on reading…
- Best Scene: My favorite scene in the movie had to be when Mike and Dena interview Bert Harris, the brother of one of the slain nuns. Mike Donato gets so frustrated with Bert answering the questions like he is on a game show… frustrated Bronson is an entertaining Bronson!
- Familiar Face: Jenette Goldstein (Aliens and Near Dark) plays a member of Dena’s team and a friend of the Donato family, Detective Judy McCartney. Judy ends up dead after the team chases a bad lead.
- Familiar Place: Russ Loring’s office is in the famous Bradbury Building in Los Angeles, the same location used for one of my all-time favorite Bronson movies, Murphy’s Law.
- AKA: Donato and Daughter is also known as Dead to Rights. In Australia it was released as Relative Danger and in the UK it was released as Under Threat.
