Loch Ness
1995
A Collection of Article/Review Excerpts
Dempsey arrives in Inverness, only to find the monthly monster hunter convention in full swing. But Dempsey, along with his newly appointed assistant, has a job to do and as he makes every effort to commence his super high-tech scan of the Loch, it seems the locals are intent on stopping them. No more monsters means no more tourists which is vital to the livelihood of the community.
Reaching the end of the biggest sonar sweep in history, it seems that Dempsey has the scientific proof he needs to dispel the myth. But deep below the surface of the water something stirs and an age old secret is about to be revealed....
Statistics
Los Angeles. The scientist Dr. Jonathan Dempsey ( Ted Danson )has both career and private life troubles. Then he gets an unusual offer: He is to go to Loch Ness where the legendary monster supposedly dwells and to disprove its existence once for all. Dempsey does not actually believe in monsters, but he nevertheless reluctantly accepts the order.
Having hardly at Loch Ness, Dempsey discovers there is a horde of scientists gathered -- "Nessie" hunters from all over the world. Fleeing from the large scientist-infested hotel, he finds accomodations in the small hotel of Laura MacFeteridge ( Joely Richardson ) and her young daughter Isabel .
After Dempsey searched the whole lake, his work seems to be terminated. For it is certain: There is no trace in the whole of the Loch of the fable animal! But a strange photo arouses already soon new doubts. Together with Adrian Dr. Dempsey returns to the water. The two are mysteriously attacked. When Isabel a little later paints a picture of "Nessie", it turns out that she apparently knows where the monster is. She finally leads Dempsey to a secret place, where "Nessie" allegedly always visits it. Now it lies in Dempseys hand to destroy or retain the largest myth of Scotland...
The monster has been christened "Nessie", after the loch. Though many believe the mystery, her presence is more legend than fact. Naturally many people have stated - generation after generation - the fact that they have seen Nessie but no one has ever had concrete proof. Many alleged photos mostly turn out as hoaxes.
The American scientist Jonathan Dempsey conducts a technologically thorough search and is certain beyond doubt that htere is no Nessie. Amongst the locals, Dempsey's search to dissprove the existence of Nessie is not met with enthusiasm. That which the people have believed for 1500 years, no scientific realization can dissprove. Besides that, he learns from Isabel, a small girl, that it is sometimes simply better to leave secrets alone.
Although it moves at about the speed of evolution, TV viewers are seeing it much faster than ever intended. The movie that airs on ABC tonight at 8 was never meant to be a TV movie at all. That Loch Ness was made in 1994 for theatrical release explains its $12-million U.S. budget, a monster-sized amount of money for a telefilm but modest for the big screen. When the movie company watched last summer's kids movies Matilda, Pinocchio, Alaska and Flipper all tank at the box office, they sank that plan and turned to TV.
If you turn to it, you'll find a predictable and plodding fairytale that is occasionally uplifted by some lovely performances -- and not once (don't fall down from surprise) by its star, Ted Danson.
Aside from the obvious credibility problem -- try to retain belief in this tale after you hear that Danson's supposed to be a highly-educated, highly-intelligent scientist -- it's simply hard to work out what Danson's up to here.
Cast as Dr. Jonathan Dempsey, a zoologist marginalized and embittered by public failure, Danson plays the role as if drunk or dazed, often blinking as if the light is too bright. Throughout, Danson delivers the flat sort of performance that makes one wonder whether he read the impossibly hokey dialogue and decided not to even try. Dispatched to Scotland to disprove the Nessie legend, Dempsey endears himself to the hostile locals, whose livelihoods depend on the tourism it attracts, by calling them "tight-fisted weenies in kilts." He also stares down an elder and challenges him with, "They tell me you're the law on the water" and warns him, "Listen up, Scotty. Don't think you've got some American patsy to play Highland games with."
As near as can be determined, none of this is meant to be funny, more an indication that Loch Ness wasn't written by someone with a head full of sap at all but rather by one of those screenwriter computer programs -- left unmanned.
Working valiantly to pull something worthwhile out of this are Joely Richardson as the innkeeper Dempsey romances, her sweet, sprite-like daughter, played by Kirsty Graham, a lookalike for The Secret Of Roan Inish's Jeni Courtney, and James Frain as Adrian, the earnest young researcher.
When you finally find out what's in the lake, it comes courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop. While adequate in appearance, it's a too-brief payoff for the wait.
In case you're thinking of this as harmless enough fare for the smallest-fry, note that there are sexual references, some bitter remarks about divorce and a couple of medium-sized swear words.
Scare-wise, there's only a single startling moment and it's more of a jump than a fright.
Loch Ness is never less original than in its conclusion, another take on the old adage of Nature: Good, Science: Bad.
Genre(s):
Drama
Rating: MPAA PG
Runtime: 101 mins.
Distributor(s):
Gramercy Pictures
Polygram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Video
Video Release:02/25/1997
Locations
Scotland, United Kingdom\ Pinewood Studios, England, United Kingdom
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From a German site -- kinoweb:
Nessie - the secret of "Hole Ness"
Loch Ness. For centuries people have come here in order to behold the largest mystery of Scotland - the secret around the monster inhabiting Loch Ness, affectionately called "Nessie".
Dr. Dempsey begins immediately to investigate the lake piece by piece with the most modern technology. His investigation is supported thereby by the young Adrian (James Frain), who is a great admirer of the one-time renowned scientist. The village inhabitants observe the investigations warily, particularly the old sea-guard (Ian Holms), who has watched over Loch Ness for years. He accuses the American of wanting to destroy a 1400 years old myth with all his modern technology and the computers .
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from german site kinderfilm:
Nessie - the secret of Loch Ness
Feature, Grossbritannien1995, John Henderson
95 minutes, color, FSK: freely without age restriction
The Scottish Loch Ness is not somply a large lake, but a particularly deep one also. And it is a long held belief that somewhere in the depths of the loch lives a monster.
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Let's hear from Canada:
Monster TV film sinks quickly
By CLAIRE BICKLEY
Toronto Sun
LOCH NESS is a soft-hearted, soft-headed new movie about Scotland's legendary beastie and the power of innocence and faith. 
Scotland, which plays itself, is very pretty.
PHOTO: IN SEARCH OF NESSIE ... Ted Danson plays an American scientist searching for the famous Loch Ness monster in the TV film Loch Ness.
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Excerpt from article in Fangoria -- May 1996:
"......Frain is equally jovial about his recent role in the Ted Danson starrer Loch Ness, which he describes as 'a romantic comedy with monsters --Local Hero meets Jurassic Park. It was a shame we did not have enough money to get a proper Loch Ness Monster, ' he deadpans, so we had to use the Cookie Monster with some seaweed over it's head. Actually, it looked quite good.' "
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IMDB link for Loch Ness