Bad Influence
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DVD details
Actor: James Spader, Lisa Zane, Marcia Cross, Rob Lowe, Rosalyn LandorBrand: LOWE,ROB
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-12-03
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Bad Influence
DVD Review: Guilty pleasure.
Summary: 5 Stars
1990's *Bad Influence* provides the film-fan a chance to see what director Curtis Hanson and screenwriter David Koepp were capable of when they had to actually work for a living. (Later "success" for each has borne bitter fruit -- for the aforesaid film-fan, of course: Hanson now makes Eminem movies; Koepp just scripted *Spider-Man*. Enough said.) Hanson's previous film, *The Bedroom Window*, was mostly a by-the-numbers Hitchcock, albeit brilliant, with SHADES of novelist Patricia Highsmith's nastiness. . . . Here, Hanson & Co. veer directly into Highsmith's dark waters, and the result is just smashing. Of course it goes without saying that James Spader's "meek" corporate analyst is never all that innocent to begin with (just like any "hero" in a Highsmith novel, or in any film noir worth its pinch of salt); the fun is in watching HOW the layers of hypocrisy get stripped away, one by one. Hanson's ironical conceit is to have the movie's villain (Rob Lowe) proudly believe that HE'S the one responsible for the Yuppie's corruption. The movie's really about the tragedy of a psychopath. Lowe's wicked drifter is a pretty lonely guy, after all: he wants a friend! Women are his source of income, and can't be an option in terms of an intimate relationship. He meets the yuppie at a beach bar: Spader finds himself in trouble with a 900-lbs gorilla; Lowe extricates him from the trouble by threatening to cut the gorilla's throat with a jagged bottleneck. Of course, he also helps himself to Spader's unattended wallet . . . but once Spader runs into him the next day, Lowe allows himself to befriend the yuppie. With a sort of proud-father generosity, he initiates Spader into the world of L.A.'s underground bars, designer drugs, and decadent call girls. It eventually degenerates into a spree of cheap thrills that include hold-ups of the local burger joints and liquor stores. Hey -- it's Boys Night Out! What's the use of a life, even a criminal one, without no one to share it with? Unfortunately, All Good Things Must Come To An End: Lowe overreaches, and the blood-brothers become antagonists. After the bitter break-up, Lowe behaves petulantly, appropriating Spader's home furnishings like a divorcee in a bitter lawsuit. It's all great, campy fun, with the added bonus of some real menace -- and generous whiffs of decadence from the deepest pits -- thrown in to keep you riveted. The movie's centerpiece is the videotaped murder of a woman: the tape shows the murder occurring off-camera in Spader's bedroom. Horrified, Spader runs to his bedroom . . . to find the door nailed shut! This may be the only case in a movie of suspense being generated by something that has ALREADY HAPPENED. Ingenious! Final thought: I'd wager that aspiring novelist Chuck Paluhnik (sp?) caught this movie one night on HBO or something years ago and was subsequently inspired to write *Fight Club*, a novel (and, later, movie) whose parasitic-friendship theme is suspiciously similar to what's presented here. Bad influence, indeed.
Description of Bad Influence
There's nothing more enticing than evil...especially when it's hiding behind a killer smile and draped in designer suits. Rob Lowe ("The West Wing") and James Spader (sex, lies and videotape) star in this "slyly seductive and thoroughly enjoyable thriller" (The Wall Street Journal) from director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and writer David Koepp (Spider-Man). Financial analyst Michael Boll (Spader) seems to have everything: brains, money, a socially connected fiancée and a blindingly bright future. Then he meets Alex (Lowe), an impeccably dressed drifter with fatal charm and an insatiable appetite for wine, women and danger. Alex befriends Michael and takes him for a walk on the wild sidebut Michael soon discovers that there's a terrible priceto pay for life in the fast lane, because hanging out with Alex...can be murder!Bestsellers in DVD
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