1988 period comedy
Rating: 16/20
Plot: A lothario makes a wager with his gal pal that involves the sexual corruption and ruination of a young woman. It's dangerous!
I was going to penalize this movie for including the word "liaisons" in its title because no word should have that combination of vowels, but I can forgive it for giving me an excuse to use the word "lothario."
Like Ridicule from 1996, this has a great combination of beauty and bite. Clearly, Glenn Close and especially John Malkovich are having a ball spitting out these bile-filled lines like they're in a more overtly randy Shakespeare play. The screenplay's playful and mean and a lot of fun.
Another all-time movie, for me (no.15 on my list). I have never been a big Pfeiffer fan, mostly because her last name is irritatingly hard to spell, and Keanu is almost laughingly bad in this early role, but man, the dialogue. There is so much edge and darkness, and Malkovich and Close are at their very best as they tear into each other. I love the perfect ending for both characters. This would rank with "The Lion in Winter" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" among films with brilliantly dysfunctional couples. A 20.
ReplyDeleteYes, I knew this was very high on your all-time favorites list. I saw it pre-blog while going through a Malkovich thing.
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