A warm,summer afternoon at the softball park between two workplace rival companies becomes the make-cute meeting for Debbie(Demi Moore,who,while hardly the greatest actress in the world,can still fit roles and is a perfect fit here),an advertising design artist and Danny(Rob Lowe,as '80s air-fluffed and perfect as ever),a condiments and insundries salesman feel an attraction,first there,then at the usual watering hole haunt. This being still the height of STDs being a "non-topic"(i.e. the mid-'80s,right on top of AIDS becoming a household topic),the attraction is a no-brainer for a one-night stand. But something happens: they find out they like each other and decide to pursue this relationship,much to either the dismay and/or astonishment of their best friends:Debbie's dour,cynical pal Joan(Elizabeth Perkins,one-note here but an EFFECTIVE one note)and Danny's bombastic buddy Bernie(Jim Belushi,having a good ol' time). From there,the course of almost an entire calendar year follows the events play out.
Adapted from David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago",it's pretty easy to notice(particularly to anyone with familiarity of Mr.Mamet's work) that this script is a far more palatable treatment for the screen than what you might've(I have yet to actually see this put to stage off original script)seen on original draft and/or performance. While this movie might turn off theater snobs(and possibly people with a low tolerance for '80s kitsch),anyone with an interest in seeing pretty actors(Lowe and Moore)playing for emotional range(and not doing too badly,IMHO)and solid,not quite looker actors(Belushi and Perkins,though Ms.Perkins HAS softened up over the years,becoming almost vampish looking herself)to sharpen up their acting fangs should be able to appreciate it. Directed by TV and film vet Edward Zwick(with a reworked title AND script from Second City and SNL vet Tim Kazurinsky,who has a cameo),this movie is deceptively advertised as a sex comedy,but actually has a softer,deeper,layered sense of itself. It's a good keeper of a film,worth at least a re-watch or two.
Adapted from David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago",it's pretty easy to notice(particularly to anyone with familiarity of Mr.Mamet's work) that this script is a far more palatable treatment for the screen than what you might've(I have yet to actually see this put to stage off original script)seen on original draft and/or performance. While this movie might turn off theater snobs(and possibly people with a low tolerance for '80s kitsch),anyone with an interest in seeing pretty actors(Lowe and Moore)playing for emotional range(and not doing too badly,IMHO)and solid,not quite looker actors(Belushi and Perkins,though Ms.Perkins HAS softened up over the years,becoming almost vampish looking herself)to sharpen up their acting fangs should be able to appreciate it. Directed by TV and film vet Edward Zwick(with a reworked title AND script from Second City and SNL vet Tim Kazurinsky,who has a cameo),this movie is deceptively advertised as a sex comedy,but actually has a softer,deeper,layered sense of itself. It's a good keeper of a film,worth at least a re-watch or two.