The Last Seduction

Clay Gregory (Bill Pullman (Malice, Lost Highway)) makes a big score by selling some drugs but his wife, Bridget (Linda Fiorentino (Men in Black, Dogma)), steals the money and skips town.  On her way to Chicago she goes to a little town outside of Buffalo, NY called Beston (I realize that Buffalo is completely out of the way of Chicago but that’s what the movie tells us) where she gets picked up by a local named Mike (Peter Berg (Dir: The Rundown, Hancock)).  Bridget calls her lawyer who tells her that she should stay in the town so her husband can’t find her.  She complies and continues her relationship with Mike while putting up a false front because you know, she doesn’t want to look like a criminal.

The main thing to know about this piece is that Bridget is a tough broad.  She doesn’t take shit from anyone and treats just about every person that she comes across like garbage.  We’re introduced to her yelling at her workers who are making telemarketing phone calls and she doesn’t really lighten up very much as the movie goes.  I found her pretty unlikable.  They never give us a reason why she acts this way all the time so the whole thing feels kinda put on.  It’s like she’s angry and extremely motivated “just because”.  In the beginning Clay slaps Bridget and she gives that as the reason why she stole the money but I thought she meant it in a joking way.  However since there’s no other reason given I have to assume that that’s what it is.  It’s an interesting motivation but it seems like there should be more to it than that.

Mike is a nice straight laced guy and isn’t involved in any sort of crime or scam or anything.  When he sees Bridget he falls in love with her but once he gets to know her a little bit I don’t understand why he stays in love.  She keeps treating him like shit but he always comes around again trying to get her to not be such a bitch.  But I guess he wants to be a little more carefree and maybe that’s what he sees in her.  When Mike tries to pick Bridget up he’s nice at first but that doesn’t get him anywhere so he then says “I’m hung like a horse” and that wins her over.  She has to find out that instant in the bar and she sticks her hand down his pants.  They become fuck buddies but Mike wants a full on relationship.  She makes a deal with him that will bring that about but I won’t tell you what it is ‘cause that’ll ruin the movie a bit (based on what I’ve said so far you might be able to guess anyway).

At first I thought this was going to be a fish-out-of-water story because the people in the town say “good morning” to Bridget and act real nice (except the bartender).  I thought all this small town charm was going to eventually melt her icy protective later and she would learn what it means to have friends and people that love her and that being nice feels better and goes farther than being mean.  But instead this is another film that thinks it’s so goddamn clever.  Bridget has to weave an intricate web in order to get Mike to do what she wants and also to find a way to get Clay out of the picture so she can have the money all to herself.  You know that she’s playing everyone so she can come out ahead so the ending loses a lot of the impact that it might have had if they had downplayed her character more.  The only reason I found myself caring about what happens to Bridget is because Mike loves her and I like him.  He just got caught up with a bad crowd. 

The bouncy jazz music makes this film seem more playful and lighthearted than it actually is.  Of course in these kinds of movies it all comes down to the ending and it was a bit darker than the rest of the picture.  The way the thing was going I thought it was going to end with several people being humiliated and having them realize that they were being played for suckers while Bridget winks at the camera and drives off.  But it was more sinister than that. 

This picture has all the classic elements of a sexy thriller.  There’s sex, a scam, one spouse betraying the other, a twist ending, white people, a dominating female lead and a poor innocent guy that gets caught in the middle because he wants some nookie.  I don’t think it really comes together though and it’s the characters that are to blame because there’s not much else going on here.  I have a hard time getting behind Bridget because she’s so fucking smug and knows everything about everything that she’s not fun to follow around.  After learning very quickly what type of a person she is I didn’t think for a second that she would be in any real danger.  They paint her as such a smart and cunning person that you would never believe that she would allow herself to be trapped or make a false move.  I know this character sounds a bunch like Catherine Tramell from Basic Instinct but Bridget isn’t seductive like Catherine or as crazy.  They’re both pretty cold blooded but Bridget just seems like an asshole by how distant she keeps herself.  She’s doing it all so she can make off with lots of cash.  In the end it’s all about the money.  With Catherine it’s different.  She lures her victims in and fucks with them because she likes it and thinks it’s fun.  There’s nothing to gain but notoriety and satisfaction with her work.

Mike is a much better character with a weird back-story and everything.  It’s interesting that he keeps falling for the wrong women and lands himself in shitty situations.  It’s his nature to fuck up no matter how hard he tries.  What’s strange is that Mike is in this movie almost just as much as Bridget but I feel like we just scratched the surface with him.  I would like to see a movie all about him and how he can’t seem to get anything right, except having lots of sex.  He knows how to do that just fine.

Bill Pullman is probably the dumbest person in this though.  He has his hair dyed blonde and he’s supposed to be a tough guy that deals drugs ‘n shit but I don’t buy it.  I don’t think he does those characters well because he always wants to play it a bit goofy.  He puts on too much of a pathetic twist that I can’t get into it.  He also has probably the stupidest part in the movie where he figures out the alias that Bridget’s using because she has a quirky habit (or talent?) of writing things backwards so you need a mirror to decipher it.  It’s one of those things where you see her do it in the beginning and then know that it’s gonna come up again later ‘cause why the hell would the filmmakers throw this completely unnecessary idiosyncrasy into the picture?

Apparently people really dug this film because Linda Fiorentino and director John Dahl (Rounders, Joy Ride) were nominated for and even won a whole bunch of awards like BAFTA, Independent Spirit, Directors Guild of America and others.  I dunno man I didn’t think it was that good.  As far as sexy thrillers go you could certainly do better.

Also, I don’t really get the title.  Who’s to say that this is the last seduction?  In fact it wasn’t.  They made a sequel a couple of years later.  So there.

Sex Scenes: Three.  Two of them are back to back so there’s a pretty good sized block of sex.  There’s also a rape scene but I don’t think that qualifies.

After Sex Scenes: Two.

Strange Cameos: J.T. Walsh (Breakdown, Blue Chips) plays Bridget’s lawyer.  He was actually kind of nice in this one.  It seemed like he always played these really mean bastards so this was refreshing to see.

Bill Nunn is a great character actor that plays a private detective that tries to find and bring back Bridget.  He was the reverend in Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and a detective in both Extreme Measures and Kiss the Girls.