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The Last Seduction

The Last Seduction

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I am not a fan of the man-killer genre.
Review: The whole business of the smart woman who knows how to use sex to make men stupid just doesn't really wash for me. BODY HEAT, BASIC INSTINCT, ROMEO IS BLEEDING, and this one. Each plays in its own way on the idea that estrogen makes women smart while testosterone makes men stupid enough to override their survival instinct.

I dunno...maybe this is true for a lot of guys, but it ain't true for me. I don't find myself huffing and puffing at the sultry sexuality that these women bring to the screen.

That said, this was one of the better examples of that genre that I've seen--an incredible performance from Linda Fiorentino (whom I've had an eye on since VISION QUEST--why isn't this woman a star?), a cutting script, appropriately moody direction, editing and cinematography...this should have been a perfect movie. Maybe it's a perfect specimen of this sort of movie and my own dislike for the genre is what keeps me from seeing that.

All I know is that when the story came to its shock ending...nothing. No resolution for me...no sense of justice...no horror at the turn of events. It just didn't play true for me because, while I've seen (and experienced) many of the stupid things that men have done for sex, I really don't believe that an erection could make a man--even a slow-witted one--THAT stupid.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: come on you eunuchs.
Review: there are movies that shouldn't work, that have no right to work, movies that are in many respects asinine and ridiculous and clumsy and superficial - yet they do work, and the thanks is due to the presence of actors with alchemical charisma, capable of transmuting lost causes into "riveting psychological studies" on the pure power of personality. imagine any other actor than sharon stone delivering those supremely corny lines in "basic instinct." it's her eerie confidence that allows you to "suspend you disbelief" even though you actually saw her commit the crime in the first scene. the more outrageous the propositions she can cajole you into accepting, the more exhilerating the ride.

this is exactly why "the last seduction" is so successful a film. the script couldve been written by a slightly precocious and masochistic high school kid. if you wrote down the dialogue and read it back silently you'd swear you'd just transcribed some godforsaken hbo b-movie. well, you would have. even hbo gets lucky occassionally. in this case, they ought to have thanked the cinematic gods for linda fiorentino. she not only rescues "the last seduction" from complete imbecility - she elevates it to a "near-masterpiece of the neo-noir spider-woman canon", as roger ebert might (and probably did) say. remember barbra stanwyck in "double indemnity"? you won't after you see this. in fact there is really no comparison in film. bridget (aka "wendy") describes herself - while slamming her fists against the roof of her jeep astride her boyfriend - in terms that i can't employ on amazon, but it rhymes with "trucking witch", and nobody is going to disagree with her. she is capable of anything and everything up-to-and-including murder, on a whim, for convenience's sake, without the slightest hint of remorse, and she's thoroughly capable of getting away with it. her single human emotion is greed. since her greed is focused on conventional ends - sex, money, power - we can all relate; what's shocking is the utter ultimacy of her greed, and her uncanny ability to exploit her situation, however doubtful it seems, using the most vile and heartless methods conceivable, and come out smelling like a rose. of course, that's where the plot strains our imagination; but the burden is on the actor. if she fails to radiate an aura diabolical enough to convince us of her complete mastery of her environment, we'll notice the fact that the plot is illogically propped up on all sides to support her, and the whole spell of the movie will be broken. needless to say, that's not a problem here. our first glimpse of bridget finds her barking orders at a sweatshop full of telemarketing scammers as they hawk "commemorative coins" at dumb old ladies in jersey. prowling around like a dominatrix, taunting them with a stack of bills, she is totally convincing in her power; she's a being to be reckoned with not because of anything you know about her - nothing yet - but because of her presence, one of authority and emotional detachment with a bias towards menace. later she plays with a guy who hits on her in a bar (quite literally), decides to have sex with him on a whim purely for pleasure, just as a man would do; and then when he, taking the traditionally "female" role in response, extends himself to her emotionally, she exploits his gullability in sundry creative ways, ultimately convincing him to kill for her as part of an insurance scam. now that's classic noir. he's even characterized as a small-town country boy, and she swoops in on him from the big bad city and destroys him, in a recapitulation of a classic motif from the original 40's films noir - the metropolis as eroder of ethics and values and the patriarchal order. as bridget snarls at one point:"spare me your brainless countrified morality!" you've just got to see her in action. fiorentino's performance is a flawless gem in a meagre setting, but that's enough - that's what makes a movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Noir, but with a difference
Review: This fine film is a Noir but with a critical difference: the femme fatale gets away with it. Sorry about the spoiler! But the point is instructive, as a perusal of the film noirs of a generation ago always end with the femme fatale getting her comeuppance. This was likely due to the prevailing cultural norms would not stand for a smart woman using brains and sex to get what she wanted. Scary! So now we have this vicious Bridget eating the hapless Mike alive and getting her brutal revenge on her equally snake-like husband. I don't think she's a likeable or admirable character but deep down I'm thinking "yesss!!!". A very provocative movie (in every sense of the word) with excellent performances and great old-style noir dialogue, updated for our current world.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome
Review: This flick is a must-have for every Fiorentino fan. Dahl's signature is evident here, since the style is very much "Red Rock West", but only in an urban setting. By the way, what's up with complaining about the full-screen and giving it one star? This was a cable release - it was supposed to be that way!

In terms of the plot, this movie is a ride. Don't even try to predict the turn of events - Dahl will be ahead of the curve every time.

Get this movie while you can. It can be out of print for years.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Injustice to Great Film! Not Widescreen/ Poor Print Quality
Review: This is a fantastic modern film noir...I won't repeat the praise other reviewer's have already given it. I am disappointed the DVD was released in Full Screen only, and the print quality leaves something to be desired. It's a 5 star film on a 3 star DVD. Lets hope it gets re-released in a format more befitting a great film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dark thriller, best of it's kind
Review: this is one of the darkest erotic movies i've ever seen, a clever one too, sex scenes are a bit too fake, the plot is stong and achieved it's key and star cast Linda, Bill Pullman and Peter Berg are amazing. 8/10.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: FemmeFatale to end them all....
Review: This movie could be harmful to your health if you are fascinated by bad women, there have been other femme-fatales,Davis, , Stanwyck,Turner, Stone, Theresa Russell, Barrymore, but Fiorentino defeats them all as ruthlessly as Kroy defeats her opponents in 'last seduction': it wasnt termed a filme-noir legend for nothing, Fiorentino is ably supported by Berg, Pullman and others, but no taking credit from her, they couldnt have done it without her....but for the HBO telemovie release,Fiorentino would have gotten Oscar or Golden globe and be a household-name top-rung star.....tantalisingly, some of Bridgets attitudes in certain areas are shared by Fiorentino, apparently....

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: FemmeFatale to end them all....
Review: This movie could be harmful to your health if you are fascinated by bad women, there have been other femme-fatales,Davis, , Stanwyck,Turner, Stone, Theresa Russell, Barrymore, but Fiorentino defeats them all as ruthlessly as Kroy defeats her opponents in 'last seduction': it wasnt termed a filme-noir legend for nothing, Fiorentino is ably supported by Berg, Pullman and others, but no taking credit from her, they couldnt have done it without her....but for the HBO telemovie release,Fiorentino would have gotten Oscar or Golden globe and be a household-name top-rung star.....tantalisingly, some of Bridgets attitudes in certain areas are shared by Fiorentino, apparently....

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: sharp, vicious femme fatale flick
Review: This movie is NOT for the faint of heart. The anti-heroine (Fiorentino) is cold, ruthless, and entirely consistent. This movie fixed one of my greatest beefs with most villians - DON'T MAKE STUPID MISTAKES!

This is one sharp woman, and woe to the men who get in her way.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: So-so movie tough to take
Review: This was an ok movie but I had problems with it. First, it is too long and can't sustain the plot or interest for 110 minutes. Second, many of the plot twists were telegraphed. Third, there were holes in the logic of the set up. Finally, the main character, although sexy, was just too evil and unsympathetic.


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