1994 neo-noir drama
Rating: 15/20
Plot: After being slapped, Bridget runs off with a bunch of her husband's money and flees to a small town, makes a friend, and tries to figure out a plan.
My next stop on my quest to fill 1994 movie gaps is this movie on my brother-in-law's favorite 1994 list. It was also on Roger Ebert's list, leading me to believe that maybe Roger Ebert is my brother-in-law. It's going to be impossible for this to slip into my top ten because of the score, this relentless light piano and brushed drums.
This isn't a special movie except for the lead character played pitch perfectly by Linda Fiorentino. Bridget might be the most calculatingly nasty character I've ever seen in a movie, pulling strings with a sinister gusto. Poor Mike, played by Peter Berg, never had a chance, and by the time you get to the end of the movie, you realize that poor Bill Pullman, who plays Bridget's husband, never had a chance either. I don't think this is a spoiler because you can see from the beginning that Bridget's capable of chewing up and spitting out anybody who gets in her way. There's exactly one moment of vulnerability in this, and that's when Pullman slaps her. But even that seems like it was part of her plan all along, the little something that would give her an excuse to put this whole plan in motion. So forget I said that. There isn't a single scene where it feels like Bridget is out of control, and watching her twist her way from point A to points B, C, D, E, and so on is delightful.
Fiorentino has all the right moves here. There's a perfect blend of sexuality, bitchiness, greediness, conniving, and apathy to this character that makes a pretty far-fetched plan seem not all that preposterous. She's a spidery gal, and this movie is propelled by the character's attitude. There are a handful of seductions in this movie, and while I'm not sure which of them is the titular "last seduction," I'm pretty sure the first is the way the character seduces the viewer. She's given great lines. Something like "Who's a girl got to suck around here to get a drink?" is pretty typical from her. She's got these great expressions, ones that show just how bored she is with things being this easy for her and ones that show an apparent disdain for humans. I mean, check out her expressions when locals are being friend and saying hi to her. She's got this ease in her manner when she's up to no good and she lies so effortlessly. My favorite Fiorentino moment shows us that even sex is a bit of an annoyance for her, just like the need to get gas a few minutes earlier. It's something approached with an audible sigh and then a pump.
It's fun watching the pieces of her plan fall into place, and it's even more fun watching that character doing anything at all, but I wish this character could have been in a movie with a little more style. But it's easy to figure out why this ended up in the 1994 top ten list of my brother-in-law, Roger Ebert.
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