Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series) View from Up Here (2005) User Reviews

'Goren' Is A Compassionate Cop

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 25 June 2008]

Condos, profit, murder, adultery, faith, air shafts, fraud and assorted other goodies are all sorted out by the amazing "Detective Robert Goren" who figures out the scams in this somewhat-odd murder mystery.

I'm making actually sound more intriguing than it was, although Vincent D'Onofrio, as usual, was fascinating to watch. I like it when he shows compassion, which he does have. He has a lot more than his partner "Eames" (Kathryn Erbe) is usually offers nothing but sarcasm (but she's fun to watch, too!). Goren exhibits his compassion here with a woman who is duped into thinking she's getting messages from God. Instead of making fun of her, he realizes she's been scammed, big-time, and has a good heart despite acting a little weird. While others are ready to put her away, he sees the truth in the case, meaning who's behind the killing.

In this episode, Goren's compassion helps solve the case as things aren't as they look. That's as good as I can do without spoiling this for anyone!

never ending passion

[Mrpalli77 · 9/10 · 13 September 2017]

I see in this episode a lot of over-turnings. The murder seems at first related to property values, then to religious issue and at last it's the classic passion crime. God is seen for the first time using up to date technology to deal with his believers. Kathleen Robertson (a flash from my boyhood, she was playing the role of Clare Arnold in Beverly Hills 90210) is still charming.

Missy Doty as a religious bigot looks like Mrs Carmody in "The Mist", she's ready to kill because it's the will of God; luckily in this case she doesn't persuade potential followers in her scam.

"You're not stupid to have faith"

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 30 September 2020]

Even from reading the plot synopsis, one sort of knows that "View From Up Here" is going to be a somewhat strange episode. Strange is not always a bad thing, there are films and television episodes that are that but also manage to intrigue and entertain. But there are also those that go overboard and become silly and confused. So it depends on the execution. This is an episode that is going to divide viewers, and has divided come to think of it, methinks.

"View From Up Here" for me was something of an uneven episode and one of the lesser episodes of Season 4. It is better than "Eosphoros" and "In the Dark", but is no "Semi-Detached", "Want" or "Magnificat" comparing it briefly to the previous Season 4 episodes. It is something that starts off incredibly promisingly, but becomes too bizarre and not as probable later on. Which is a shame because the concept actually was one of the more oddly interesting ones of the first half of the season.

Will start with the many good things. The production values as ever are slick and with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear with the theme tune still memorable and the direction is accomodating yet tight enough. As said, "View From Up Here" started off with great promise, the case was very absorbing and wasn't obvious or over-serious. The method of murder is quite a unique one for up to this point of the show's run.

Much of the script is thought probing and flows well, the quoted line from Goren is a powerful one and Eames has a wonderfully sassy one-liner comparing buildings to wall. There are some nice character moments, such as seeing Goren in compassionate mode (he is amazing in this regard with younger characters) and when he plays with a circular saw at his desk. Did appreciate that the subject didn't get too heavy-handed, a big danger with this type of story. Vincent D'Onofrio is terrific as always and the guest performances from particularly Missy Doty and Kathleen Robertson are of strong quality too.

However, to me the second half wasn't as good as the first. It did intrigue but wasn't as focused and could have gone into more detail with what is revealed, which made things become muddled. It also became silly and uncomfortably bizarre, and took the off the wall factor to extremes.

Instead of being suspenseful or shocking, the story became increasingly unlikely. Which is most obvious in one of the show's most absurd and "stretching credibility to beyond breaking point" denouements.

Summing up, decent but uneven. 6.5/10

Passion Condo

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 6 August 2017]

Though the waterfront condo on Manhattan's West Side isn't finished tenants are already moving and getting acquainted with each other. Well more than acquainted because there's an extramarital affair going on with the partners of two of the tenant families.

There's also a young girl, somewhat disturbed who is getting messages through voices and through computer e-mails from God. First time I ever heard the Creator/Deity using that method to talk to folks, but why not.

The head of the condo board is the victim here, killed with a rotary saw and then the body dumped deliberately in the Hudson in the path of an oncoming ship to be chewed up by the propeller. It was Leslie Hendrix L&O's resident coroner that caught this one.

And it takes the eclectic mind of Robert Goren to figure it out. This one's a bit off the wall, but decent enough.