History of Oscars is history of injustice. Wrong films win and right films lose awards. The latter might happen because of some obscure Academy rule. One of the most famous victims of such injustices is Linda Fiorentino. Her brilliant performance in The Last Seduction, 1994 thriller directed by John Dahl, which many consider worthy of Oscar for Best Actress was ineligible for award because the film happened to be distributed on HBO before being shown in theatres.
Fiorentino in the film plays Bridget Gregory, telemarketing manager in New York City who lives with her husband, aspiring physician Clay Gregory (played by Bill Pullman). The couple has been living above its means, forcing Clay to take loan from some unpleasant people. Financial problems are solved after Clay steals pharmaceutical cocaine from hospital and sells it on the street for 700,000 US$. His triumph is short-lived because Bridget, acting on impulse, takes the money and runs away. Her initial plan to settle in Chicago is altered when she takes a stop in small town of Beston, where she would find job in insurance company under assumed name. In a local bar she meets Mike Swale (played by Peter Berg), young man who is later revealed to be her colleague, and begins torrid sexual affair with him. Mike, who was desperately trying to leave suffocating small town, falls in love with beautiful, mysterious and sophisticated woman from big city. When Clay, desperate for money with which he must pay debts, starts looking for Bridget, she creates diabolical plan to get rid of her husband, using Mike in the process.
The Last Seduction was made with little budget and it could easily be mistaken for unambitious cable television film with “pulpish” content and some steamy erotica. Yet, it was also directed by John Dahl, film maker whose previous two films - Kill Me Again and Red Rock West - turned him into a critics darling and brought him reputation of master of neo-noir genre. Dahl in many ways confirmed this position with this film, delivering an interesting, engrossing and memorable tale of ill-gotten money, naive men and pathologically evil men. Script by Steve Barancik is in many ways inspired on 1940s film noir classics, with one of them – Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity - even being paid explicit homage in the film. Yet, Dahl has made The Last Seduction not only very modern film, but also quite different from his previous two films. The setting is divided between big corrupt megalopolis and small town, here presented as place populated by naive, unsophisticated people who aren’t match for urban criminals and sociopaths. Mild social commentary is also accompanied by unusual style and tone of the film, which is at times less “straight” film noir and more something like black comedy.
This strange combination works very well because of brilliant cast, led by brilliant Linda Fiorentino. She plays classic noirish character of brunette femme fatale, but she puts it above levels seen in previous films, like Matty Walker in Body Heat. Bridget Gregory is the main character in the film, introduced at the very beginning and her moral alignment isn’t a mystery. Fiorentino plays that sociopathic and highly intelligent character with great gusto, both seducing audience and make her wonder what diabolical thing she would do next. Fiorentino, who was quite enthusiastic at the set and, among other things, insisted on shooting sex scenes without use of body doubles, delivered the best performance of her career and was quite deserving of critics’ praise. Bill Pullman and Peter Berg, playing men who aren’t match for her devilish intelligence and remain victims of her manipulation until bitter end, are very good. Same thing can be said of supporting players, like J. T. Walsh as Bridget’s sleazy lawyer and Bill Nunn as private investigator who is trying to track Bridget down. The Last Seduction is well written, decently directed and brilliantly acted film, but it stops short of true greatness due to Joseph Vitarelli’s jazzy music score which at first works and creates semi-ironic atmopshere, but later becomes repetitive and annoying. However, this film is nevertheless a very good piece of cinema that could be recommended to fans of film noir and generic thrillers. Its status of a mini-classic was, in a way, confirmed by getting 1999 sequel The Last Seduction II starring Joan Severance.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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