Okay, seeing Dennis Hopper naked is not something that was on my list of things to do in my lifetime, but it was not the abomination that some of the reviews make it out to be. I give Hopper and the director and screenwriter a lot of credit for fearlessly letting it all hang out, as it were, when that privilege is usually reserved for the "beautiful people" of Hollywood. That's what people look like -- it's just not such a big deal (no offense intended, Dennis).
My vote places this film into what I consider the vast "average" category. There are some issues here. Casting is one of them. Amy Locane was 25 playing 17 in this film. No sale. I have a 17 year old son, and not a one of his female friends looks much like Amy Locane. She was just not a convincing teenager. I realize that there are issues with having an actual seventeen year old in this role, but the casting director should have worked a little harder to find a more convincing actor for such a pivotal role. Locane invoked Lolita's aunt that works at Hooters more than she invoked Lolita.
Hopper was quite good as the male lead, acting out the fantasy that Sting and the Police put to music so many years ago. Amy Irving was quite good as the "comfortable" love interest.
Still, this story was rather predictable. The middle-aged teacher climbs out of his routine by having a sexual fling with one of his students, with predictable unhappy results. Still, despite the unhappy results, the fling was life-affirming over against all those stifling impulses that compel us into the comfort and safety of the routine.
This re-telling of the Lolita tale put a somewhat more human face on the lonely, love-lorn middle-aged man, but may have replaced that image with the notion that such relationships are really the fault of the young nymphettes who tempt them. That is a troublesome notion. Relationships such as this one need not necessarily be portrayed in terms of "victimization," but to the extent that there was a victim in this film, it was the teacher, the authority figure, who was the victim of the slutty teen-aged girl. In a sense, I guess that completes the Lolita fantasy -- that it is the young woman who creates and insist upon the relationship to the point that the resistant will of the older man is overcome. That image is a fantasy to the Nth degree.
Nonetheless, this is a reasonably entertaining little evening's diversion for the thoughtful performances of Hopper, Irving and Gary Busey as Catherine's father. I wouldn't go out of my way to find it, but if it shows up again on IFC, it's worth a look.
My vote places this film into what I consider the vast "average" category. There are some issues here. Casting is one of them. Amy Locane was 25 playing 17 in this film. No sale. I have a 17 year old son, and not a one of his female friends looks much like Amy Locane. She was just not a convincing teenager. I realize that there are issues with having an actual seventeen year old in this role, but the casting director should have worked a little harder to find a more convincing actor for such a pivotal role. Locane invoked Lolita's aunt that works at Hooters more than she invoked Lolita.
Hopper was quite good as the male lead, acting out the fantasy that Sting and the Police put to music so many years ago. Amy Irving was quite good as the "comfortable" love interest.
Still, this story was rather predictable. The middle-aged teacher climbs out of his routine by having a sexual fling with one of his students, with predictable unhappy results. Still, despite the unhappy results, the fling was life-affirming over against all those stifling impulses that compel us into the comfort and safety of the routine.
This re-telling of the Lolita tale put a somewhat more human face on the lonely, love-lorn middle-aged man, but may have replaced that image with the notion that such relationships are really the fault of the young nymphettes who tempt them. That is a troublesome notion. Relationships such as this one need not necessarily be portrayed in terms of "victimization," but to the extent that there was a victim in this film, it was the teacher, the authority figure, who was the victim of the slutty teen-aged girl. In a sense, I guess that completes the Lolita fantasy -- that it is the young woman who creates and insist upon the relationship to the point that the resistant will of the older man is overcome. That image is a fantasy to the Nth degree.
Nonetheless, this is a reasonably entertaining little evening's diversion for the thoughtful performances of Hopper, Irving and Gary Busey as Catherine's father. I wouldn't go out of my way to find it, but if it shows up again on IFC, it's worth a look.