I always suspected that director Dennis Hopper is a "dirty old man" and this movie confirms that. "The Hot Spot" has quite a bit of erotic nudity and not fleeting scenes, but lots of it! The full chest shot of 19-yr-old Jennifer Connelly was quite remarkable!
Don Johnson plays a smart drifter who can sells cars, rob banks, and get the women. His whole life is basically a series of scams. But he meets Jennifer Connelly's character and begins to really care. However, she is being blackmailed by the local scumbag while Johnson's character is being actively chased by his boss's sultry wife! He almost gets on top of it all... almost, when his world grips him by the gonads as never before. And everybody lives unhappily ever after! :-)
Some have said the movie has no meaning, every one is bad. But that isn't true. Much like "The Talented Mr Ripley" does, this movie shows that dishonesty will ultimately be repaid, many times over, with grief.
My favorite line was right before the best "fight scene" I think I've seen. Scumbag says to Johnson's character, "So you think you're the tough guy." Johnson's character replies, "No, you're the tough guy. I'm much worse than that." Then obviously trained as a fighter, proceeded to beat the living snot out of the scumbag, which was fully deserved. I had the movie on tape, so I watched that scene several times.
All in all a good movie, and a credible job by director Hopper. It has become one of my guilty pleasures!
Nov. 2013 edit: I saw it again, on DVD, and the movie holds up very well. I enjoyed it as much as the first viewing, maybe even more.
Don Johnson plays a smart drifter who can sells cars, rob banks, and get the women. His whole life is basically a series of scams. But he meets Jennifer Connelly's character and begins to really care. However, she is being blackmailed by the local scumbag while Johnson's character is being actively chased by his boss's sultry wife! He almost gets on top of it all... almost, when his world grips him by the gonads as never before. And everybody lives unhappily ever after! :-)
Some have said the movie has no meaning, every one is bad. But that isn't true. Much like "The Talented Mr Ripley" does, this movie shows that dishonesty will ultimately be repaid, many times over, with grief.
My favorite line was right before the best "fight scene" I think I've seen. Scumbag says to Johnson's character, "So you think you're the tough guy." Johnson's character replies, "No, you're the tough guy. I'm much worse than that." Then obviously trained as a fighter, proceeded to beat the living snot out of the scumbag, which was fully deserved. I had the movie on tape, so I watched that scene several times.
All in all a good movie, and a credible job by director Hopper. It has become one of my guilty pleasures!
Nov. 2013 edit: I saw it again, on DVD, and the movie holds up very well. I enjoyed it as much as the first viewing, maybe even more.