Alex is a workaholic fed who becomes convinced a female serial killer is seducing, marrying and poisoning rich men. After failing to prevent the death of a museum curator in Seattle, she follows the femme-fatale to Hawaii and manages to befriend her. But when she starts to fall in love with the killer's next victim, a complex web of intrigue ensues ...
The script for this movie is a lot of fun but not very original - how then do the filmmakers hold our interest ? By simply making both the (usually male) cop and psycho interesting, intelligent women, and populating the supporting cast with offbeat, funny characters. The subtext is fascinating; is it a feminist piece with a plucky heroine emancipating herself, a sultry lesbian potboiler, or your standard obsessive cop/crook mirrored-existence caper ? The film wisely never takes itself too seriously (there's a great moment when Winger fobs O'Quinn off with a pat psychiatric diagnosis of Russell and then cracks up into hysterics) and it's so beautifully made that I can easily forgive it the odd cliché. It has a great old-fashioned style reminiscent of the big women's pictures of the thirties and forties, with elegance to spare; sumptuous costumes by Patricia Norris and exquisitely crystal-clear primary colour photography by Conrad Hall, with light bouncing off every surface possible and gorgeous locations (New York, Washington DC, Seattle and Hawaii). Best of all though are the cast - Winger is just sensational as the driven Alex, in equal parts meek and brash, and Russell as Catharine / Marielle / Margaret / Renee is the definitive thinking-man's homicidal crumpet - stunningly beautiful, devious, just a little bit nutty, alternately bewildered and cool as ice. Why can't we have more action/thriller movies with two lead actresses like this ? The supporting players are also superb; Williamson as a nervous anthropologist, O'Quinn as the concerned mother of a boss, a hilarious Hong as a seedy private-eye ("No knock !? Come into a person's office, no knock !!"), Hopper as a good-ol'-boy toy tycoon, Rossi as a doubting Thomas local cop, Woronov as scuba-diving instructor and playwright Mamet as a poker-player. There are lots of terrific moments in this movie (my favourite is the wedding gift scene) and thanks to Rafelson's polished, cool direction, it has a classy, seamless, elegant atmosphere.
The script for this movie is a lot of fun but not very original - how then do the filmmakers hold our interest ? By simply making both the (usually male) cop and psycho interesting, intelligent women, and populating the supporting cast with offbeat, funny characters. The subtext is fascinating; is it a feminist piece with a plucky heroine emancipating herself, a sultry lesbian potboiler, or your standard obsessive cop/crook mirrored-existence caper ? The film wisely never takes itself too seriously (there's a great moment when Winger fobs O'Quinn off with a pat psychiatric diagnosis of Russell and then cracks up into hysterics) and it's so beautifully made that I can easily forgive it the odd cliché. It has a great old-fashioned style reminiscent of the big women's pictures of the thirties and forties, with elegance to spare; sumptuous costumes by Patricia Norris and exquisitely crystal-clear primary colour photography by Conrad Hall, with light bouncing off every surface possible and gorgeous locations (New York, Washington DC, Seattle and Hawaii). Best of all though are the cast - Winger is just sensational as the driven Alex, in equal parts meek and brash, and Russell as Catharine / Marielle / Margaret / Renee is the definitive thinking-man's homicidal crumpet - stunningly beautiful, devious, just a little bit nutty, alternately bewildered and cool as ice. Why can't we have more action/thriller movies with two lead actresses like this ? The supporting players are also superb; Williamson as a nervous anthropologist, O'Quinn as the concerned mother of a boss, a hilarious Hong as a seedy private-eye ("No knock !? Come into a person's office, no knock !!"), Hopper as a good-ol'-boy toy tycoon, Rossi as a doubting Thomas local cop, Woronov as scuba-diving instructor and playwright Mamet as a poker-player. There are lots of terrific moments in this movie (my favourite is the wedding gift scene) and thanks to Rafelson's polished, cool direction, it has a classy, seamless, elegant atmosphere.