Bad to the Bone (1997 TV Movie) User Reviews

Kristy Swanson was very seductive!

[prettyface · 2 February 2001]

Spoilers Kristy Swanson acted in this Movie called `Bad to the Bone' and the taglines for the movie were `She had good looks. A great body. And killer instinct.' Guess what this movie was all about.

Kristy Swanson acted as Francesca Wells, a drop dead gorgeous lady with great body and attractive attitude. Kristy stayed with her parents and a 17 year old younger brother (Jeremy London) who loves her. Kristy hates her parents.

Kristy's brother just love Kristy. His existence in life is just to protect Kristy. When Kristy helps him cut his hair, his heart melted. He will just do anything that Kristy tell him to do. Kristy get fed up with her parents and killed them and inherited millions. She then go out with a guy who owns a club. Eventually Kristy gets tired of this guy. Kristy never satisfy with anything.

Kristy plans to kill this guy, of course not risking herself. Kristy tells her brother how much she suffered being with this guy. Her brother get angry and suggest to kill him. Kristy was very smart, she did not mention anything, but to make it so attractive for his brother to initiate the killing. The guy went to kill him, while Kristy was having dinner with a guy to protect herself as possible witness. When the job was done, she went back to the house and the cops were there. She was shocked to find his brother came back to the house later and look for her because he missed her. Kristy was very angry, cause his appearance may may make her suspicious.

The cops get both of them for separate questioning. This woman cop asked Kristy, is it possible that his brother get jealous of her boy friend. She said admitted that. Wow, what a confidence lady. Anyway, Kristy was bailed out because a lawyer offer to pay for her freedom. Her brother will stay in jail. Kristy visited her brother in jail and use her sweet seductive skills to make sure that she will be 100% okay.

She flew away, have fun, and go out with many rich people. One day, she bought a newspaper and was shocked to find her face appeared as a wanted person. Her brother betrayed her. She tried to run away. Many people notice her when she was moving from town to town but no one wants to report her. Then she made a call to the prison in a phone booth and the police track her down.

Where Phyllis Dietrichson is Queen of Scotland

[marcusman48 · 7/10 · 9 October 2009]

At first, I thought BAD TO THE BONE was an awful title for this made-for-TV movie. It's raunchy, tawdry, sleazy, tacky, and all the other adjectives you'd associate with a Times Square peep show. But then I actually watched the film (fascinating how often people don't do that, isn't it?), and now I can say without a doubt that the title is the perfect analogue for our villain protagonist here, Francesca "Frankie" Wells (Kristy Swanson) - not just because Frankie is, well, exactly what the title says, but also because, like her, the title is two-faced. (Speaking of which, I am reminded here of Marilyn Monroe's observation of "If you're gonna be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty." Both of Frankie Wells's faces are pretty.) You immediately see the title and you assume you're about to watch some tasteless B-movie: a Quentin Tarantino sort of potboiler, perhaps spiced with John Waters's grotesque brand of humor. That's certainly what I assumed. And I was dead wrong.

From the very first shot, where the hard iron door of a prison cell is opened onto the title credits and a nervous young man in a blue jumpsuit (Jeremy London) is ushered out, it becomes clear that BAD TO THE BONE is not going to be light entertainment, or even black comedy. Genre-wise, it's pretty much film noir: a remake of sorts of Billy Wilder's DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) with teenagers instead of adults. But it's also a Shakespearean tragedy without the Bard's poetic language. And, for once, George Thoroughgood is nowhere to be seen (or, rather, heard).

The nervous lad in the opening scene is Danny Wells, and he is Frankie's brother. The two siblings had entered into a pact to murder Frankie's boyfriend (David Chokachi) in order to take control of his luxurious apartment and nightclub - and also to cover up the boyfriend's role in another murder plotted by Frankie, wherein the Wells siblings' mother was killed so that Frankie and Danny could cash in on her life insurance. Yes, it definitely rings of DOUBLE INDEMNITY, with Frankie as Phyllis Dietrichson and Danny as Walter Neff. But it also reminded me of some of Shakespeare's plays, especially his most ominous: MACBETH.

Frankie Wells is a late-20th-century Lady MacBeth, no joke. She wants it all, but is more than willing to have some you-know-what-whipped male fetch it all for her at tremendous personal cost to himself. He (Danny/MacBeth) is a cringing tool afraid of his own shadow, while she is smug and calculating - until her world really begins to come apart. And that brings up this film's most transparent allusion (as transparent as anything this exploitative in content can get, that is): Frankie swimming in the ocean during the movie's final half-hour, wondering if being immersed in seawater can wash all her sins away. (One wonders if immediately after that scene she went inside to drench herself in "all the perfumes of Arabia.")

Perhaps the most Shakespearean aspect of Frankie Wells, however, is the utter despicability that resides beneath her glamorous and (perversely) appealing exterior - in her bones, so to speak. She is certainly winning as a gorgeous and naughty blonde, but that's about it for her in the plus column. Her intelligence is barely above average at best (and moronic at worst); and in terms of morality she's an unrepentant cobra with nihilism in her eyes and a stubborn pride at having already outlived her conscience by her late teens. Her depravity almost literally knows no bounds. But the cobra soon becomes defanged, if not devenomed. Frankie is at her core a pathetic being who is too weak to commit her own crimes; even Phyllis Dietrichson knew how to fire a gun, which Frankie Wells, with her freshly painted fingernails and color-coordinated outfits, would find repellent. Her lone asset is summed up early in the picture, and it's something that can barely be depicted on network television: "There's only one thing I know how to do, and they don't teach it in school." Frankie knows full well she's damned, but lacks even the guts to admit that until the very end.

But film noir is this drama's true pedigree, and as the story winds up it heaps on the genre's time-honored voyeurism, as we get to watch this grotesque amalgamation of Ted Bundy and Kelly Bundy run in a blind panic all throughout America, wriggling like a drowning fish as the FBI's net tightens. It's all the shameful fun of watching a smarmy bad girl's misdeeds finally catch up with her and bite her in the ass, coupled with the equally shameful hope that she manages to keep her buttocks clear of the fangs just a little while longer so that the thrilling chase can continue as long as possible. It's not the healthiest kick - but hey, if the Romans could have lions...

As she is finally nabbed by the police and hauled off to a fate she unquestionably deserves for being so "incredibly guilty" (as Mel Brooks might put it), Frankie pretends to be mad. She does so perhaps to purposely get herself committed to an asylum, perhaps to slither her way out of a trip to prison where she'd almost certainly be beaten - or worse - by hardened female convicts appalled by her spoiled suburban arrogance. (The wormy Danny could probably expect equivalent treatment in the men's prison.) But then again, perhaps Frankie really is insane. Perhaps evil itself is insane - a ghastly abomination that most of us reflexively shun out of our inherent goodness. At least, I can only hope.

Very Very Good

[hilljayne · 10/10 · 11 July 2004]

This is a very good film. Kristy Swanson is great as a seductress man eating money loving party girl. The reviewer on the first page of these reviews is totally wrong about Ms. Kristy Swanson. She is a much better seductress than say Sarah Michelle Gellar ala Cruel Intentions. Though not quite as spectacular as Nicole Kidman in To Die For. I would give her acting a 9/10. In the makeup department I would give her fake hairpiece she wears in scenes where she is a teenager a 0. It is so obviously fake it almost takes you away from her acting. Jeremy London is good as her loose cannon brother. Best scene: When a motel clerk tells Swanson WE DON'T GET A LOT OF WHORES HERE her reply? WELL YOU GOT YOURSELF ONE NOW.

Kristy Swanson Was HOT

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 31 January 2006]

Kristy Swanson,(Francesda Wells) gave a very convincing performance as a very very bad girl who would do anything for money and a completely wild life. Francesda is every young man's dream of a gal who is Easy and eager to please all kinds of men and has no regard for law and order. In other words, this gal has no soul and lives from day to day and loves to destroy most of the people she encounters. Jeremy London,(Danny Wells), "Kiss Me Again",'05, is the brother to Francesda and adores his sister and will do anything to protect her. However, in many ways she really uses her brother to accomplish her needs and desires. The poor mother has to put up with this daughter of hers and the entire film makes you hope and pray you never have a daughter like Francesda. Great acting by Kristy Swanson and Jeremy London.

Great film

[Gellar · 10/10 · 1 October 1999]

I first saw this film late one night when I was almost falling asleep. I saw that one of my favorite actors was in it so I stayed up. The film starts with the character Danny, sitting in jail ready to go to court. When he arrives at court, he is called up to testify and the film goes backward, and he tells the story. But there is no narration. The film is about Frankie, a young girl of about 19 years of age, who kills her mother because they are always fighting, and so she could inherit all the money. Nobody knows that it was her who killed her mother, because she covers it up. She meets a guy named Waldo, who lies to police for her and they end up living together with all the money. They argue alot because she is spending all the money. Waldo threatens to tell the police that she wasn't really with him, the day her Mom was killed and Frankie gets nervous so she tries to manipulate her brother to kill him. I won't tell you anymore. But it's a great film. Kristy Swanson(from Buffy the film) stars as the manipulative sister of Danny, who has an evil side to her. The film keeps your intrest, because it keeps you in suspense. You are also always wandering how the character of Frankie(Kristy Swanson) can be so horrible and manipulative. The story line was great, and I thought the acting was excellent from Jeremy London(Danny). Kristy Swanson gave a great performance. I really recommend the film, it was great.

spoiler included.i love her in this.and her brother, who at times seem WAY TOO CLOSE to his lovely sis. but i love it for sure. got it on right now AGAIN ON LIFETIME

[domincanredangel · 10/10 · 19 January 2008]

i have it on now we were all heading out tonight since we are due to the weather i am watching it with mi papi. so crazy she was lmfao funny she was able to hustle get paid from all the men who had no real clue about her using them lmfao dummies i love her as a actress tall pretty woman and she gain weight now but still beautiful to me looking like Anna Nicole a lot in the face love this movie just was sad when she got her own mother killed that was NUTS and her cute bro had no clue until the end after all the money was gone and his so called"LOVING sister" i love the mother who play in other things Patti d'arbanville,good acting all around from all characters.

great movie.and they film it quite well since i love most of all TRUE stories.

sad but good. i will rate it ten definitely. adiós!

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Well acted gripping story

[phd_travel · 9/10 · 17 March 2019]

This movie is surprisingly involving. Kristy Swanson is memorable as a bad bad girl. She not only kills her mother but later by manipulation and deception gets her little brother to kill her boyfriend for the insurance money. She looks beautiful and is a femme fatale to end all femme fatales. Jeremy London acts well as the brother and his distress is quite touching. David Chokachi plays the murdered boyfriend.

Even stranger she flees after posting bail and goes after seducing another guy.

Apparently this is loosely based on a true story of a Korean American family and there is a documentary house of Suh.

Boring to the Bone!

[guil12 · 8 December 2001]

First of all why are there so many flicks about supposedly luscious females on the evil make? And the females aren't that luscious. In this, yet another boring tale of murder and intrigue, we have the likes of a bimbo named Francesca, played by an inept actress by the name of Kristy Swanson. She manages to travel around luring men and then knocking them off. To me, she was so obvious. I thought this actress had nothing to offer in the looks or performance department. She's skinny to the bone, with no chest, no hips, no butt. I think this actress must be anorexic. I suppose the blame should go to the casting people, Penny Ludford and Dan Shaner, one or both of them could have done better in casting the pivotal role of Francesca. The director, Bill L. Norton, couldn't do that much with this actress. It's like he gave up on getting a performance out of her. Along the travels of our little murderess, is her brother, Danny, played on a level of another planet by Jeremy London, who gets sucked into her schemes by murdering her lover, Waldo, played by hunk David Chokachi. Here is where I got sick. Watching this gorgeous guy, who certainly could have done better in getting himself a better looking doll, fall for her phony line and then take the dirt she flung at him. She gets hot and cold with a guy who, in my mind, could have any girl he wanted. Why waste it on her? Casting people take note. Don't ever put such a handsome dude in a role opposite such a not so attractive gal and make us believe this is life. No way. Why are there so many of these grade B made for TV dramas about these pathetic women who fool so many men in believing they mean what they say, and then get away with murder? The only exception was in the movie "Malice". But then, the dame was none other than Nicole Kidman, who makes all these other imitations look like losers. And Nicole had a vulnerability to her that was appealing. And she certainly acted the rings around the others, let alone was also a knockout in the looks department. There was at least a believability in why the male population wanted to get into her bed. I give this film a 4 out of 10, and I'm being nice, for the looks of David Chakachi on film. Let's see more of this hunk! I must also mention the good looks of Ben Browder as another victim to this loser. And the best acting goes to Patti D'Arbanville as the mother who should have slapped the girl's face way back when. I loved it when Victor Ertmanis, the motel manager, called her bluff and sent her packing. The writer, Rob Fresco, needs to give our villain a lot more suffering in the end. Not enough retribution in this view's opinion.