The Last Seduction

A devious sexpot steals her husband's drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme.

The rumor is that this film was intended to be a "skin flick" but the people involved wanted to make something a little bit better. What they ended up with was a thriller not unlike "Basic Instinct" and "Fatal Attraction". In a world full of stupid men, a crafty woman can control her destiny.

How well this film is known, I do not know. I wasn't aware of it. But enough people have rated it on IMDb that it must have been big at the time. Heck, there are rumors that it almost got an Oscar nomination. (Lots of "rumors" with this film... not sure what to believe.)

Fiorentino has a field day as one of the most despicable women ever to be featured in a film. Her character is tough, self-centered, mean-spirited, and sexy femme fatale who absconds with her husband's drug money and tries to get her ninny of a boyfriend to kill him. The plot is quite contrived and the characters bear no resemblance to real people, with Fiorentino appearing to be a genius in a world of dim-witted men. The acting is pretty good. Berg is likable as Fiorentino's boyfriend, a decent fellow who has to balance his hormones with his morality. Pullman seems to be having fun playing the betrayed spouse. The score sets the right mood.

I loved this one because I couldn't get over the heights of carnality and the depths of sociopathic evil the characters were capable of achieving. Linda Fiorentino played perhaps the most despicably rotten, heartless, conniving, using bitch I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Pullman was great as the reaper of retribution intent on giving evil for evil. Peter Berg may have stolen the show with his total inability to say no to his own destruction. It was hard to believe the abyss of stupidity these 2 dopes had the capacity to plumb. Guess that's what happens when the little head takes over the thought processes for the big head, eh? The picture started out a little slow but developed into a real blowout with a jaw dropping finale. All the folks got exactly what they deserved. All of them.

Director John Dahl presents modern Film-Noir. A strong minded woman(Linda Fiorentino)runs away with her husband's(Bill Pullman)profits from a drug deal leaving him to face his loan shark. She finds another town and another man(Peter Berg)to manipulate. Interesting cat and mouse plot with some spontaneous sex thrown in. The combustible kind! It is doubtful you would fall asleep after this one kicks into gear. The sultry Fiorentino knows the ways to be wicked. J.T. Walsh is also notable. Can you say sizzle?

I love this film. It's an absolute breath of fresh air. Those who can't deal with the "immorality" of this film are drunk on Hollywood happy-ending sap and are blind to the realities of human nature. Guess what, in real life, more often than not, the bad guys don't get punished. If movies about the white hats winning in the end make you feel better about the reality of what usually happens in life, more power to you.

How many times have we cheered on a bad guy despite ourselves, even though we know he's bad, just because he's so charming and sexy? Why not the same of a woman? She's evil, she's manipulative, she gets what she wants. I love it. Would I want to meet someone like this in real life? Of course not. Do I find her behavior acceptable? Of course not, it's absolutely reprehensible. But this is a movie, it's entertainment, and the world is already full of bad-guys-get-it-in-the-end fantasies, orgies of violence that are only excused by the fact that the person being destroyed is a "bad guy" - why can't I relish in a fantasy of a brilliant and amoral woman triumphing over the stupid and trusting (and yes, people can really be that stupid, even smart people.) We want to believe in the essential goodness of mankind, but unfortunately, in the real world as in this movie, villains often capitalize on that need to believe for their own benefit.

Linda Fiorentino is absolutely amazing in this movie, I really wish she would get more work, her talents are completely underutilized. Sexy, smart, and in control. Bill Pullman is his usual wonderful self, and there are many other excellent supporting performances from the likes of J.T. Walsh (RIP) and Peter Berg.