This is one of those thrillers that is both a suburbanite's worst nightmare, and the ultimate suburbanite's fantasy of vengeance. Kim Basinger is a powerless housewife in a loveless marriage trapped in the faceless, cold, materialism that in many ways is emblematic of American life. It's actually a very sad existence, but it's about to get worse. When Basinger decides to finally act in defiance of the life that is getting her down, and leaves a trite little note on the window of an old beater car in the mall parking lot that is taking up two spaces, her life is about to change for the worse. To make a long story short, the car belongs to teenage thugs who then spend the rest of the movie trying to chase her down. Basinger, who quickly finds herself lost in the dark woods that are being converted to yet more suburban housing (albeit well outside of shouting distance for assistance) and being chased by over sexed bloodthirsty teens, is forced to call upon all of the skills the modern suburban housewife has at her disposal to survive... which it turns out (in this film) is a surprising amount of skill...
Was this a realistic tale? Of course not. There is plenty of suburban myth involved here, and there is also a rather inflated view of Basinger's ability to fend off four young men bent on rape and murder. That's not to say, however, that it still wasn't fun to see her metamorphosis from suburban victim to angry vengeful spirit of the forest. An interesting "what if" piece that serves as a cautionary tale to less capable soccer moms who feel compelled to leave annoying notes on people's cars, as well as a warning to teenage boys with an invincibility complex that a woman with a tire iron, trapped in a corner, is probably someone you should take seriously...
Recommended? Yeah, I think so. It was just fun enough that you could laugh off the improbabilities. I found myself wondering just what Basinger was going to pull out of her toolbox next, and I enjoyed the vengeance she enacted on the foolish bullies in her life. It was fun.
Movie to Skip: The Sex Monster
This is a quiet, self-depreciating flick about a guy, married to Skeletor (ed. That wasn't Skeletor, you jackass, that was Mariel Hemingway...) who decides he wants to spice things up by asking his wife to engage in a three way. She bites, he gets what he wants... and then it turns out that she's the one who is having all the fun. So much fun, in fact, that she becomes an insatiable sexual animal as he gets FAR more than he bargained for.
While the 'thrust' of this movie is the dangers of getting what you asked for, ultimately this is still a guy's wet dream. (I mean, come on, it stars the director of the flick who couldn't help but insert himself in multiple threesomes throughout the movie.) You see, ultimately when a guy thinks he wants a threesome with two girls, he doesn't quite think about how he's going to handle the situation if his partner decides she prefers the fairer sex too... Woe to he who dares open Pandora's... er... box.
While there were several humorous situations throughout the movie, most of the movie's attempts to be funny just come off as eye-rolling silly. And as potentially 'sexy' as the movie could have been, the film maker ultimately takes the high road in most situations and lets us use our imaginations instead. Dang it. This isn't a terrible movie, but I think it's 'life lessions' are fairly limited to the extremely few guys out there who are ballsy enough to try out these waters. For most of us, well, we'll just stick to reading Penthouse letters. This is a fairly non-serious movie that you can feel comfortable watching (without the kids -- and possibly without the missus) when there is absolutely nothing else on that you want to see. It's ok, but don't knock yourself out to see it.
On a slightly creepy note, the opening sequence to the movie are several women (many of which have later roles in the movie) dancing in some rather tight and revealing outfits. This is all well and good until we get to one we see only from the back who is a little larger and manlier than the rest. I thought it was kind of a clever little introduction to our main character/director, and that we are getting a glimpse into some of the psychological shenanigans that we were going to be exploring in the film to come, but it turns out that was Mariel Hemingway. Oops, and Yikes! I'm not saying Skele... I mean Ms. Hemingway isn't beautiful in her own way, but perhaps they should have chosen other dancers that were a little less... curvaceous and petite to gyrate alongside her...
As you will see above, I'v rated both of these movies equally, but when push comes to shove, I guess I can always skip the rom-com...
As you will see above, I'v rated both of these movies equally, but when push comes to shove, I guess I can always skip the rom-com...
