John Cusack plays Ed, an ex-cop who's come to support himself by chaufferring around aging and prissy actress, Caroline (Rebecca De Mornay). This is the quintessential murder mystery, with an Agatha Christie-esque style plot. Although there is much that is contrite in that formula--and we're not sure if the original intention was to make fun of the murder mystery convention--the clever dialogues and performances deliver the goods.

Through a series of coincidences, one dark and stormy night, 10 characters all end up spending the night at a spooky, dilapidated hotel. One by one, the guests begin to die, in Hitchcockian fashion. The grisly murders occur offstage, leaving it to the audience members to rely on their imaginations as they hear the blood-curdling screams, et cetera. Cusack's Ed is right on the mark. He's cultivated the art of the underdog and we are rooting for him as the innocent man as he gets caught up in the plot twists and turns.