Matty has a ball with a lively romp from Phoenician Entertainment.

The shout-out to VHS and cable hit A Murder of Crows (1998) across the top of its sleeve tells you everything you need to know about RESTRAINING ORDER:

It’s another pulpy and gloriously preposterous thriller from Elie Samaha, Ashok Amritraj, and Andrew Stevens’ Franchise Pictures, cobbled together through their DTV subdivision, Phoenician Entertainment.

Treating Restraining Order as the lark it is, Eric Roberts is at his playful best as Robert Woodfield: a majestically coiffed defence attorney who, in the film’s opening scenes, reveals himself to be as quick with his fists as he is a turn of phrase. Both skills prove essential when Woodfield’s latest client, psychopathic criminal Martin Ritter (Stevens regular Hannes Jaenicke, unleashing a performance so brilliantly hammy it should come with a dollop of Coleman’s Mustard), starts wielding a campaign of terror against him, after the cocksure lawyer inadvertently stumbles into a property shakedown gone wrong. Stalker hijinks, legal bluster, low-key action, and a few enjoyable — if well telegraphed and highly implausible — twists ensue. 

A spirited little number, much of Restraining Order’s energy is fostered by the soapy and pleasingly melodramatic mugging of its distinguished supporting cast, which is bolstered by Rif Hutton, Franc Luz, and Dean Stockwell (as Woodfield’s duplicitous father figure). Helmer Lee H. Katzin’s direction is nuts n’ bolts, but gets the job done. His final assignment before his death in 2002, Katzin earned a reputation as a dependable craftsman over the course of a near forty-year career, most famously stepping into the chaotic making of racing flick Le Mans (1971) when its original director bailed due to clashes with unruly star Steve McQueen. The bulk of Katzin’s work, though, was in television, and the sole nit pick of Restraining Order is that it feels very small screen on occasion, in manner and execution [1]. Still, the film moves and it certainly holds one’s interest. 

Featuring the same courtroom set used in Body Chemistry 4: Full Exposure (1995) — an earlier Stevens production — Restraining Order was shot in June 1998 and landed on U.S. video and DVD via Artisan on 18th July 2000 [2]. Franchise’s relationship with Artisan was established by Gary Rubin. Rubin had toiled with Samaha during the nightclub magnate’s tenure with Nu Image, and, after becoming an exec at Artisan, was the man responsible for inking the television and home video deals of several Nu Image romps, a bunch of Franchise/Phoenician capers, and — the biggie — indie horror smash The Blair Witch Project (1999). 

USA/Germany ● Thriller ● 95mins

Eric Roberts, Hannes Jaenicke, Dean Stockwell ● Dir. Lee H. Katzin ● Wri. John Jarrell

[1] A bit of symmetry: the same problem plagues a subsequent film scripter John Jarrell had a hand in, Terminal Invasion (2002).
[2] Track the disc version down. Katzin’s commentary — all William Friedkin-ish plain speak and self-deprecating humour — is a fantastic and illuminating listen.