Sliver

Why anyone would want to make a movie based on the Nirvana single, “Sliver”, I have no idea.  And why they would make it totally different from what Kurt Cobain sang about I don’t know either.  I guess this is how at least one person interpreted the song. 

This is the very next film Sharon Stone did after Basic Instinct and it’s another sexy thriller (that would make sense as those are the only kinds of movies that I watch these days).  She plays Carly Norris, a recent divorcee that moves into a new apartment building.  What she doesn’t know is that the whole place is rigged with cameras that catch and record everything that every tenant does in their private apartments.  The owner of the building is Zeke Hawkins (William Baldwin (Backdraft, Fair Game (1995))) and he puts the moves on Carly to try and get her in the sack.  But another guy, Jack Lansford (Tom Berenger (Major League, The Substitute)), also keeps trying to pick her up. 

Even though this has the makings of a love triangle it actually doesn’t happen.  Carly can’t stand Jack because he’s conceited and thinks his writing (he’s a writer) is hot shit.  Jack also likes to pretend to attack her while she’s jogging in the park.  Now I’m no Casanova but that doesn’t sound charming.  Maybe if he talked to her like a normal human being and sent her some flowers or some shit then he might have a chance.  But he doesn’t so Carly goes for Zeke instead.  There.  Love triangle over.  But Zeke is a creep and a half.  He looks like a vampire with his slicked back hair, ogling eyes and smug grin.  He thinks he’s hot shit too but displays it in a less gaudy way so he looks like less of an asshole next to Jack. 

At first I couldn’t understand why Carly was going for this guy.  Sure he seems nice on the surface and maybe he’s cute looking (I think he’s kinda ugly personally but the people in this movie argue otherwise), but after talking to him for a minute you can tell this guy is a grade A stalker.  He has some creepy/stupid/funny lines like “I like playing games with people who like playing games” and he’s supposed to have this fixation with volcanoes (apparently the film was supposed to open with shots of a volcano) but it’s only brought up once and he says “I’d like to fly into one sometime”.  Carly then asks why and he responds “I don’t know.  It sounds like fun.”  After wooing her with shit like that Carly’s hooked.  It wasn’t until later that I understood what Carly saw in Zeke.

But I think I need to back up for a minute and tell you more about Carly before I continue.  She’s a big time editor that saves the day when things need to be read and edited in like a week or less.  Everyone seems to like her and she even has one of those envious yet goofy secretaries that can’t stop complaining about how boring and bad her life is.  Naturally they have her wear tasteless clothing to make her look like kind of an imbecile.  This is supposed to be the comic relief by the way.  Carly is pretty wholesome and innocent though.  She doesn’t wear a lot of makeup or revealing dresses or anything but Sharon Stone still has some brassy dame left in her to show that she’s a woman that can take care of herself.  You think that she’s looking for a nice easygoing relationship but she’s actually looking for something with an edge and that’s what I realized Zeke brings to the table.  He pushes her limits and she likes that.  For instance there’s a scene where they go out to dinner and Zeke asks if Carly’s wearing the bra and panties that he sent her.  She is but Zeke then asks to see them.  Carly is shy at first but eventually takes her panties off while others in the restaurant watch her.  After she’s done it she has a huge smile on her face that says, “this was fun.  I like to be challenged”.  Unfortunately the whole movie isn’t like this with Zeke upping the ante every time they meet ‘cause I think it would be interesting to see how far Carly would be willing to go.  Instead the whole thing kinda peters out.

Tom Berenger was really good in this and I liked seeing him as an asshole.  He’s not usually this boisterous and it made me appreciate him more.  He was in this a bunch but I thought he could’ve been in it even more.  He helped to break up the drab and very serious scenes between Carly and Zeke.

This is another Joe Eszterhas script and he is the sexy thriller king of writing.  He wrote screenplays for Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Jade and Jagged Edge.  He also gets an executive producer credit for this one.

It’s also worth mentioning that the guy who wrote the book from which this movie is based also wrote Rosemary’s Baby and The Stepford Wives.  Too bad this ain’t no Rosemary’s Baby.

The problem is that this movie doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere.  The mystery of several tenants being murdered or committing suicide over the past couple of years shares equal billing with the Zeke and Carly story.  I think it would have been better to focus more on one and have the other take a backseat.  I didn’t really get where the film was going and then when it was over it felt like it ended very abruptly.  There were a bunch of questions that went unanswered and things that the movie did tell you but still weren’t that clear (I don’t want to get into the specifics because I don’t want to give everything away).  Overall I thought this one was kinda boring and unfulfilling. 

Sex Scenes: Two and a half.  Sharon Stone cries during the first one which I don’t quite understand.  The half is because there’s a masturbation scene and also some security camera style sex.

After Sex Scenes: One.  They keep threatening to show William Baldwin’s penis during it but thankfully they don’t.

Strange Cameos: Martin Landau (Ed Wood, North by Northwest) plays Carly’s boss (at least I’m pretty sure that’s who he was supposed to be).

C.C.H. Pounder plays the cop investigating the murders/suicides.  She was in Face/Off and was the one to actually suggest switching faces.  I’ve also seen her in End of Days as Schwarzenegger’s superior officer.  Oh and she was in Avatar too.

Colleen Camp plays Carly’s quirky secretary and she was one of the cops helping McClane in Die Hard With a Vengeance.  You might also know her from some other stuff too like Greedy, My Blue Heaven or Wayne’s World.