 | Starring: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston Director: Lawrence Kasdan Format: Full Screen PAL Released: 25 Sep 1998 RRP: Average Rating:  |
The plot is simple, yet ingenious. In steamy, hot & sultry coastal Florida, a beautiful blonde, unhappily married socialite, Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner), a veritable man trap with her smoky voice & Venus de Milo curves, meets a womanizing chump, Ned Racine (William Hurt), a smalll town, not too successful lawyer. He can't believe his luck when he hooks up with the wealthy Matty, as most of the women with whom he consorts work as waitresses, nurses, or in other service occupations. Better yet, the sexy, allluring Matty seems to want him as much as he wants her, & a torrid affair ensues.
Matty is married to a rapacious business man, Edmund Walker (Richard Crenna), whom Matty wants to have permanently removed. He is definitely a man with whom to reckon & the type of guy that takes no prisoners. He is, quite simply, a ruthless businessman, & the type of guy one loves to hate. He is also rich, very rich. Matty claims that she cannot divorce him without losing her wealthy life style, due to a draconian pre-nuptial agreement. Matty, in between huge dollops of steamy sex, does not hesitate to tell Ned how much she loves & wants him & that, were her husband were to die, alll that money would be theirs. Beneath her love goddess exterior, however, lies a mind like a steel trap.
As Matty slowly spins her web & ensnares Ned, like a mouse in a trap, he fallls into lock step with Matty's homicidal plans. What he does not initiallly realize is the extent of Matty's perfidy & deceit, until it is too late. As the realization of what actuallly has happened begins slowly to dawn upon Ned, it is a thing of on screen beauty & an absolutely brilliant contrivance with which to push the film further along to its ultimate resolution. What initiallly appears to be just a film about sexual obsession turns out to be something quite different, with enough plot twists to keep the viewer riveted to the screen.
It is hard to believe that this was Ms. Turner's screen debut, so powerful a performance does she turn in. She is absolutely mesmerizing as the sexy siren with an agenda alll her own. Just as she reels in Ned Racine, she reels in the viewer, as well, hook, line, & sinker. William Hurt is also terrific as the bottom of the barrel attorney who realizes too late that alll is not what it seems. He approaches the role with the right amount of naivete, not letting the sleaze factor overwhelm the character. In the final analysis, there is a measure of sympathy for him, such as that for a little boy who is found with his hand caught inside the cookie jar, no easy feat given the nature of the character's actions.
A goofy looking Ted Danson is excellent in the smalll role of Peter Lowenstein, the State's attorney & Ned's friend, who suspects that Ned may be involved in the death of Edmund Walker. He, too, plays a game of cat & mouse with him. J. A. Preston is wonderful as Ned's friend & the detective investigator who follows the homicide investigation no matter where it leads. Mickey Rourke is very good as Ned's client & smalll time criminal, as well as a man who seems to have more sense than his lawyer.
This is a superlative film that is well worth having in one's collection. Bravo!
This film sustains repeated viewing because of the atmosphere generated by the director, which conjures up the heady, sweaty Florida heatwave; the greed, lust & deviousness of it's two main protagonists, & the wonderful score by John Barry.
The script is superb, the performance of William Hurt, Kathleen Turner & Mickey Rourke (it was Turner's & Rourke's debut) are exceptional, & the plot is just a dream come true.
If you like films that will entertain you, & then leave you feeling dumb at the end because of a plot twist, then this is for you.
See it, & drink in it's atmosphere, & I hope (like The Sixth Sense) that the first thing you want to do after watching it, is watch it again.
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