Year: 1998
Director: John McNaughton
Writer: Stephen Peters
Starring:
Kevin Bacon
Matt Dillon
Neve Campbell
Denise Richards
Bill Murray
…
Time: 108 min.
Genre: Crime / Thriller
Blue Bay, Florida. A posh town by-the-sea where sex-tingled intrigues abound. Sam Lombardo is a guidance counselor at the local high school. The guy’s a stud, and many believes that he’s a womanizing dog. So when Kelly, a babelicious rich girl with an attitude, accuses him of having raped her, people start talking. Things get worse when another rape accusation is uttered, this time by Suzie, a goth rebel loser who lives in the poor-ass swamps on the wrong side of the Bay. Then there’s a cooky lawyer with a few tricks up his sleeve and a wily, badass cop who doesn’t like to be screwed over.
What am I to do with this film ? Trust me, it’s hard to describe. In a way, it is what The Gazette called a “cheesy thriller at its trashiest”. The basic plot rapidly fucks up in a series of weird twists involving sex, treachery, passion and violence. A good deal of the movie actually feels like “ShowGirls”! You got that whole kinky sex-catfights-lesbos thing that’s so dear to infamous screenwriter Joe Estherzas. It’s often hilariously exploitative. I mean, how many shots of Denise Richards’ wet butt can they give us? Whether she’s washing a jeep, taking a swim or necking a chick in a pool, she’s as wet as it gets! It’s actually pretty sexy, but it smells like soft porn. I mean, what’s hard to get is the filmmakers’ purpose. Do they want to make dough with trash, or are they making a satire of all this? I’d go for the latter. I mean, you can’t cast Bill Murray if you wanna be taken seriously! He’s really cool as the odd lawyer. He brings a fun touch to the movie.
The cast is very good. At first, you think Matt Dillon ain’t much more than a naive hunk, but the numerous plot twist make his character really interesting. Nasty, but interesting. Because that’s one of the film’s lessons: no one is what they seem to be. Is Neve Campbell nothing more than a badlucked, grunged out teenager? Is Kevin Bacon just another misunderstood good cop? Don’t take anything for granted. So, as ridiculously over the top the plot twists may be, you gotta admit that the film is always surprising. I also love John McNaughton’s visuals, heavy on alligator on sunset shots, and the score sure grooves. The performances are solid (I especially dig Bacon’s dry edge), and those wild girls sure are gorgeous. Then again, the film walks dangerously on the line between clever and stupid. I guess everyone will have his take. Personally, even though I think that the film’s too twisted to be believable, I enjoyed it.