Most helpful customer reviews
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One of my all-time faves - a thriller and character study, Jan 23 2004
Such an ubderrated film!!! Not to mention the debacle around its 1984 production when the MBA's at Warner made Bridges recut and trim down the violence because some yuppies girls sniffing nosecandy in a Walnut Creek bathroom during screening broke down crying saying things like "How do they expect us to go on after seeing this?!!!" They told Bridges they would not release his film unless he made the young cokeheads feel more safe, so he spent $200,000 to recut and reshoot portions of the (still) remarkable film so that he could give it to us, then, darn it, he up and died a few years later!!!Anyway, this film has a GREAT score by JOHN BARRY with additional songs by then famous Joe Jackson. It is an accurate a picture of the seediness of amoral 'I will kill you for money' vibe in L.A. as anything I have ever seen. There are stellar performances throughout. Winger is simply the best of the 80s here. Mark Keyloun (what happened to him???) shines as goofy, loveable, stupid Mike. The cinematography (like Body Double of the same year, methinks) captures the numbing glare and seductive light of Los Angeles, the sense of ALWAYS BEING IN A CAR or ON A PHONE and rarely having any direct contact with the people you desire most (isn't that what fuels that place, though?). Cannot recommend this thriller/character study enough for anyone who enjoys a peek at how the uninitated get destroyed, and how places like L.A. destroy them. Oh yeah, this film bravely slams everyone equally. It's democratically un-PC.
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Debra Winger's shining hour, Jul 12 2000
Running neck-in-neck perhaps with her work in Black Widow, this is Ms. Winger's best performance to date. Low-key and a little bit rambling, the movie's portrayal of an ordinary woman's descent into the L.A. drug culture makes you feel uncomfortable and squirmy. I hated the film when I first saw it back in 1985; yet something about it stayed with me, got under my skin, wouldn't let go --until in 1990 I rented the video, and realized "Oh my god, this film is a masterpiece." It's odd, slow and expectation-defiant. Favorite moment: Winger, alone at her piano, hovering over an out-of-tune key because the sound brings back what she liked best about Mike. Contrary to Mr. Maltin, the late director James Bridges never made a finer movie than this in his all-too-short career.
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A thoughtful, non-linear drama., Jun 24 1999
This film is thoughtful, engaging, intriguing and mysterious. Debra Winger is both innocent and dangeriously loyal to herself and her friend, Mike. Anyone who has ever tried to save someone they love, or seeks answers to the sudden, tragic loss of that someone, will identify instantly with Winger's character.
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