Sep 291994
 
three reels

When her drug dealing, doctor husband, Clay (Bill Pullman) comes home with a case full of money, Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) takes the money and runs.  She stops off in a hick town for a drink and a one night stand with Mike Swale (Peter Berg), a local who dreamed of the big city but failed in the reality of it.  When her lawyer suggests she stay there until they can work out a divorce, she decides Mike may be useful, both for sex, and for making sure Clay never sees his money.

The Last Seduction has the plot, characters, and philosophy of Film Noir, but not the imagery, which might be the piece that stops it from being one of the great films.  For a story filled with corruption, it is filmed in a rather cheery fashion, much like any comedy or suburban drama.  The lights are bright and shadows are hard to come by.  The cinematography has no particular style.

I make no such complaint against Linda Fiorentino, who is powerful, sexy, and fills Bridget with an amiable evil.  She’s nasty, and we love her.  Well, almost, but she certainly is nasty.  Fiorentino makes the movie work.  This is her film from beginning to end, and no one could have done better.

Pullman is above his normal game, playing it mean with a twinkle in his eyes, a twinkle that fades as the film progresses.  Bill Nunn is also excellent as a private eye sent to get Bridget.  (Hint: Don’t cross Bridget; it’s not healthy.)  The rest of the cast are forgettable, particularly Berg, who does nothing to bring life to dim, country-boy Mike Swale.

The overall plot, if not the details, is relatively simple, but that’s true of the great femme fatale movies, Double Indemnity and Body Heat, as well.  By the time The Last Seduction ends, you’ll see that it shares not just the complexity level of its plot, but the actual story with those films.  Bridget, who is a true femme fatale (with Matty Walker’s drive and desires, and Phyllis Dietrichson’s soul), steals a great deal of money from her husband and decides to do whatever she has to in order to keep it.  Many of her acts are spur-of-the-moment, though she does finish things off with a rather elaborate plan.

Unfortunately, the seduction doesn’t ring true.  No question, Bridget is attractive and sexy, but that shouldn’t be enough.  She does little to pull Mike in emotionally, to get him obsessed with her.  Mike is masochistic, needing to be pushed around and generally abused.  And he is damaged by his last relationship.  But one scrawled note isn’t enough to prove to Mike that she cares.  I’d have killed for Matty Walker.  I’d have run screaming from Bridget Gregory.  Well…in the morning.

The film’s greatest moment is also flawed.  As it is late in the picture, I won’t give it away, but just plant this thought for you do dwell on after watching: it’s essential that “he” not notice that there is a phone call in progress, but how could it go unnoticed?

What makes The Last Seduction special is that there is no softening of Bridget, and no moralizing.  This is Richard III without the downfall.  The smart crush the stupid, and who’s good and who’s not is irrelevant.  She’s mean when we meet her and she’s mean at the end.  No apologies.  Don’t watch to see fairness or kindness or justice.  Just jump in and enjoy the darkness.

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