by Michael Betzold
synopsis
Jake (Charles Grodin), an insurance investigator, is assigned to probe the killing of a wealthy businessman in Acapulco. To help him, he hires a beautiful New York model, Ellie (Farah Fawcett), to act as his wife, and they pretend to be tourists on vacation. Art Carney plays Marcus, a local detective who befriends Jake but gets him into various scrapes. Joan Collins also appears as the suspicious Nera. Sunburn was a made-for-TV movie which featured a pop-song soundtrack blaring from characters' tape recorders that included tunes by Herbie Hancock. The movie was based on the novel The Bind by Stanley Ellin.
characteristics
- Going Undercover
- Assumed Identities
- Nothing Goes Right
- Role-switching
- Swindle
- Scam
- Model
- Investigator
- Con-artist
- Con-game
- Con/scam
- Detective