Movies
One of those films I watched a long, long time ago, well before I started seeing film as a serious hobby (I think my parents rented this one on VHS, back when that was still a thing). I didn't remember much, apart from the central moral dilemma, which is what made this film stand out back in the day. Harrelson and Moore are a happy couple who get caught in some financial trouble. Along comes multi-millionaire Redford, who promptly offers a million bucks to spend one night with Moore. It's an interesting enough premise, though Lyne doesn't go through too much trouble to make it sound believable, instead he trusts the generic Hollywood romance to do most of the heavy lifting. Harrelson and Moore are decent but they don't exactly sparkle, Redford is quite bleak. The premise is fun, but characters behave somewhat randomly and the film gets too cheesy at times when it should've been more daring. The film hasn't retained much of its original edge, what remains is a pretty basic Hollywood romance and unfulfilled potential.Read all
A very basic thriller. Don't expect any big plot twists, cool surprises or even nifty genre angles. Fatal Attraction is a film that sets up a familiar premise and then takes about 90 minutes to work through it. I guess it might've caused some ripples in the 80s, but watching it now, it's hard to see what that original appeal was. When his wife is out of town, Dan runs into Alex. The two hit it off and spend a romantic weekend together. Dan goes back to his normal life when his wife returns, but Alex isn't willing to give up on Dan that easily. She starts stalking him and threatens to ruin his family is he doesn't pay her attention. Lyne's direction isn't terrible, but that's pretty much all there is. The performances are basic, the plot is a snooze, there's no real tension to speak of and 120 minutes is at least 30 minutes too long. Fatal Attraction may not be that old, but it's already a relic. It certainly doesn't deserve its reputation.Read all