IMDb plot summary: A scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman.
Directed by Stephen Frears. Starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Swoosie Kurtz.
(Mild spoilers ahead.)
This has more than a touch of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? about it, in that it's a powerplay between two horrendous people doing horrendous things. Here, though, I find it difficult to really engage with the two leads' battle for power because I find it so unpleasant to watch Malkovich's character abuse and assault and rape the women around him. I know we're supposed to know he's a terrible person, but I hated him so much at the end that even when he attempts some sort of redemption or garnering any genuine sympathy, I'm entirely cold to him. I find Close's ending far more compelling because, while she is a despicable Iago-style villain, I don't have to watch the immediate hurt and fear and panic she instills in people the way I did him.
All that being said, though, this film is cleverfully scripted, skillfully acted, and beautifully shot (seriously, every shot in the final 10 minutes is just gorgeous). There's a lot to like about it, and when I've distanced myself a bit emotionally from the ugliness I just watched, I suspect I'll appreciate it more for what it is. I suspect it will sit with me for awhile.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Dangerous Liaisons > Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Dangerous Liaisons < Doctor Strange
Dangerous Liaisons < Death to Smoochy
Dangerous Liaisons > No eres tu, soy yo
Dangerous Liaisons > The Prestige
Dangerous Liaisons > Monsters and Men
Dangerous Liaisons > Good Time
Dangerous Liaisons > I Am Legend
Dangerous Liaisons < The Happening
Dangerous Liaisons > John Wick
Dangerous Liaisons > Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Final spot: #1105 out of 2930.
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