A Sidney Sheldon novel written fourteen years before this was filmed, this also gave Roger Moore the opportunity to get ahead of typecasting, seeing as how 1985's A View to a Kill would be his last time as James Bond.

Instead of a suave British spy or thief, he played a Chicago psychoanalyst named Dr. Judd Stevens. One of his patients is murdered - while wearing the doctor's overcoat no less - which brings Lieutenant McGreavy (Rod Steiger) and Detective Angeli (Elliott Gould) on the case. There's already some bad blood, as McGreavy blames Stevens and his past testimony for a cop killer being institutionalized rather than being sent to prison.

But after Stevens' secretary is killed and McGreavy gets so intense he gets thrown off the force, well, we have a movie.

Written and directed by Bryan Forbes (The Stepford Wives), this film places Moore into the middle of a murder mystery which is very outside his usual unrumpled all things handled way of acting. He even tries to get help from an old detective, Morgens (Art Carney), who saves him from a car bomb.

In fact, the movie ends with a series of goons nearly beating him to death. He's saved because the mob boss's wife that he's been helping with therapy - Ann Blake (Anne Archer) - called the police herself. And notihng she ever told Stevens had anything to do with the family business. All that death - and more coming soon - for nothing.

This movie was made because Cannon saw that they'd get some cachet by working with Moore - and his Bond fame was still box office - so he was able to get this movie made and hire two of his friends, Forbes and actor David Hedison. Despite the fact that it was running on schedule and under budget, Cannon slashed several weeks from filming and took away a hefty chunk of the budget, which may have gone toward paying back some recent losses at the box office. Golan and Globus also were enraged that Forbes gave Moore a week off to visit his family after the death of his mother.

Filmmaker Bryan Forbes, who once displayed a light, sardonic touch with beguiling material such as "Whistle Down the Wind" and the original "Stepford Wives", completely bottoms out here. Not only is his direction inept, he also sloppily adapted Sidney Sheldon's early novel; the results are atrocious. Roger Moore plays a psychiatrist framed for the murder of one of his patients; Rod Steiger, chewing the scenery, is a hot-under-the-collar cop (it's easily his most embarrassing performance). The only actor here to exhibit some life is Elliott Gould, who knows a thing or two about enlivening a bum script. Bland, choppy, and produced on the cheap. NO STARS from ****

Moore plays a psychiatrist caught in a web of intrigue and murder, as his patients become victims of a sinister plot. Steiger and Gould play a pair of detectives assigned to the case, but their disdain for Moore affects little progress in solving the case, and he turns to wily amateur sleuth Carney, to solve the mystery before he becomes the next victim. Generally well constructed thriller, with occasional brutal, graphic and somewhat gratuitous violence that might offend. The scene in which Moore's office is ransacked is especially cold and callous in its excess.

Some neat twists are employed by actor-turned-director Forbes, with solid performances from Moore, Steiger and Gould in particular. Moore's normally nonchalant persona is replaced here with suitable concern, as he's pursued by sadistic villains with little inclination for mercy. The executions are particularly nasty and the tone is never far from dark and threatening. In some ways, "The Naked Face" is similar in vein to both "Still of the Night" and "Colour of Night" in terms of its content, and has a render reminiscent of a Brian De Palma thriller (though it lacks De Palma's signature styling).

Despite the sophisticated elements, the dialogue is only functional and at one hour and forty-five minutes, the film does overstay its welcome. Worth a look, but nothing spectacular.