The Big Fall [DVD] [1997]

Though he essentially made The Big Fall a detective thriller, director/star C. Thomas Howell interjects his hard-boiled tale with a hint of parody. Though specializing in cases of adultery, Los Angeles private dick Blaize Rybeck's newest client, the beautiful Emma Russell (Sophie Ward) has a different type of project: she wants him to locate her brother Kenny, a flight instructor who was involved in a plane crash. His body was never found at the site, and Emma is convinced that Kenny is still alive. To solve the puzzle, Blaize goes undercover and joins a group of sky-diving thrillseekers. His old pal FBI-agent Bill Wilcox (William Applegate Jr.) shows up and tries to persuade Blaize to stop investigating -- as there is far more to the case than is immediately apparent -- but by that time, the gumshoe is in too deep to stop.~Sandra Brennan