Apology is a made for HBO original film that premiered on July 27, 1986. The movie is based on the artwork of Allan Bridge

Allan Bridge

Allan Bridge was an American conceptual artist best known for his creation in 1980 of the confessional phone system known as the Apology Line. He went by the pseudonym Mr...

 and the novel he inspired, Mr. Apology. The film was eventually released on video and syndicated to cable & network television outlets. It stars Lesley Ann Warren

Lesley Ann Warren

Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....

, Peter Weller

Peter Weller

Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...

 and John Glover

John Glover (actor)

John Soursby Glover Jr. is an American actor, perhaps best known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville.-Personal life:...

.

Plot

In New York City, avant garde sculptor Lily McGuire (Lesley Ann Warren

Lesley Ann Warren

Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....

) lives a complicated and frustrating life as she tries to not only provide for herself and her daughter, but debut her latest artwork known as Apology. The design is a two part project consisting of a walkthrough sculpture of advanced mechanical design and a phone service that allows callers to anonymously leave confessions of whatever they desire on the answering machine. There is just one problem: someone has been calling the line and using it to announce a string of recent high-profile killings. After contacting the police, Detective Hungate (Peter Weller

Peter Weller

Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...

) advises Lily to take the threats seriously. Eventually, the serial killer stops his phone calls and intends to murder Lily to the sounds of the exhibits programmed confessions. Charles S. Dutton

Charles S. Dutton

Charles Stanley Dutton is an American stage, film, and television actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles as "Fortune" in the film Rudy and "Dillon" in Alien 3...

, Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...

, and Chris Noth

Chris Noth

Christopher David "Chris" Noth is an American actor. He is known for long-running television roles as Det. Mike Logan on the police procedural and legal drama television series, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and as Big on Sex and the City. For the latter role, he has been...

 co-star.

Cast

• Lesley Ann Warren
  Lesley Ann Warren
  Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....
  
   ... Lily
• Peter Weller
  Peter Weller
  Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...
  
   ... Rad Hungate
• George Loros ... Frank
• John Glover ... Philip
• Jimmie Ray Weeks ... Claude
• Harvey Fierstein
  Harvey Fierstein
  Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
  
   ... The derelict
• Charles S. Dutton
  Charles S. Dutton
  Charles Stanley Dutton is an American stage, film, and television actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles as "Fortune" in the film Rudy and "Dillon" in Alien 3...
  
   ... Asst. District Attorney (as Charles Dutton)
• Skye Bassett ... Anna
• Garrett M. Brown ... Gordon
• Ellen Barber ... Patty Garretson
• Reathel Bean ... Lt. Arnold Goodson
• Chris Noth
  Chris Noth
  Christopher David "Chris" Noth is an American actor. He is known for long-running television roles as Det. Mike Logan on the police procedural and legal drama television series, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and as Big on Sex and the City. For the latter role, he has been...
  
  ... Roy Burnette
• Diana Reis ... Jean
• Joe Zaloom ... Street vendor