Villains
are far more interesting than heroes. Just ask Heath Ledger (if you
could). Without Lex Luthor Superman is just another boring jock on
steroids.
There are
villains you love to hate. And then there is Linda Fiorentino in THE
LAST SEDUCTION. If I may coin a word, she is a VILF!
THE LAST SEDUCTION is a 1995 film noir treat, written by Steve Barancik and directed by John Dahl (w
ho
sadly has been relegated to television while Michael Bay continues to
make features). It's probably available on some streaming service. Linda is the ultimate femme fatale, absconding her
husband’s drug money (Bill Pullman as Ralph Bellamy) and disappearing
into this small town where she turns Peter Berg into her boy toy for
utter amusement. In true noir fashion she lures him into committing
murder and the twists and turns come fast and furious.
And all
the while you love her sultry voice, her chutzpah, smarts, and delicious
wickedness. It’s DOUBLE INDEMNITY meets GOODBYE COLUMBUS.
Oh, and it’s one of the sexiest movies this side of first half of BODY HEAT before it dissolved into a jumbled mess.
THE
LAST SEDUCTION and Linda should have been up for a gaggle of Academy
Awards but due to a technicality (the movie played first on HBO) it
wasn’t eligible. But it did win all kinds of Indie Spirit Awards, which
everyone knows is far more prestigious.
THE LAST SEDUCTION. See it with someone you want to have sex with or kill.
The second half of Body Heat is perfect, watch it again.
ReplyDeleteThat movie was great! The scene with the detective in the car and how she gets out of that situation....amazeballs! Red Rock West, too.
ReplyDeleteThis is practically a cult film among noir and crime fiction writers. Extremely well donw. Seeing Linda Fiorintino in this and MEN IN BLACK (showing her comedt chops) I have no idea why she didn't become a bigger star.
ReplyDeleteDana
DeleteUnfortunately, Linda gained a reputation for being phenomenally difficult to work with. However, it is also possible that she became a victim of Harvey Weinstein's blacklisting. In the same way that Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino were blacklisted for years because they rejected Weinstein's sexual demands, perhaps the same fate befell Fiorentino. One of the last films she did was the Weinstein produced Dogma.
Linda Fiorintino is one of those whose name tends to come up in "should have been bigger" discussions, but if you look at her career, it's obvious why that never happened. Too many duds and not enough hits. If she'd followed up "The Last Seduction" with something really good, well, maybe. Instead, she was in "Jade," with David Caruso. Remember him? The egomaniac who walked away from a hit series because he was too good for television and promptly torpedoed his film career with a big budget dud. Which was "Jade."
ReplyDeleteDo you, Ken Levine, really not know of JustWatch.com or the app of the same name?
ReplyDeleteA highly accurate guide to what is streaming where. I use it multiple times a day. TLS is on 2 free services I'm not familiar with but you can rent it on other platforms for as low as $1.99
You can stream it for free with Hoopla, a service that lets you "borrow" films and e-books using your local library card.
ReplyDeleteLinda Fiorentino is great. The self-possession and unerring delivery. Who can forget the Mr. Ed line in this movie? The right kind of mockery and interest. First I recall seeing her was in a huge movie poster for Gotcha that seemed to be plastered forever in the window of a video store ('memba them?).
ReplyDeleteKen, I'm surprised I hadn't noticed this before. While watching some very early episodes of The Andy Griffith Show today, I realized there was no B- or C-story. Upon reflection, I couldn't think of other 1960s sitcoms with anything but an A-story. When did they start appearing?
ReplyDeleteReal-life femme fatale (from Wiki):
ReplyDelete"In 2009, former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Mark T. Rossini pleaded guilty to illegally accessing FBI computers during the prosecution of Los Angeles private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Law enforcement officials said Fiorentino previously had had a relationship with Pellicano and wanted to assist his defense.[18] According to prosecutors, Fiorentino was now dating Rossini, and told him she was researching a screenplay based on the case. He conducted searches of government computers for information related to the Pellicano case and passed the results to Fiorentino,[19] who then handed the files over to Pellicano's lawyers in a failed effort to help Pellicano avoid a 15-year prison sentence.[18]"
Rossini lost his job and got a year's probation & a $5k fine.