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SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (1992) (**)

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Oh this all-female twist on FATAL ATTRACTION is a paint-by-numbers thriller. Well, it’s a thriller in name only because it very rarely chills at all.

Allison Jones (Bridget Fonda, A SIMPLE PLAN) has recently broken up with her fiancée Sam Rawson (Steven Weber, TV’s WINGS). She puts an ad in the paper and receives a call from the mousy Hedy Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY). Soon enough we see that Hedy isn’t as mousy and soft-spoken as she first appeared and it becomes “creepier and creepier” when she starts to take on the look and personality of Allison.

The film follows the formula for this kind of film to the T. There’s a cute pet, so you know what will happen to it. There’s a convenient gay neighbor so you know what will happen to him. Everyone shows up on cue and the contrivances crammed into the film for the plot to move forward are explained away with total lameness. Skilled writing isn’t this film’s strong point.

The only real positive points to note is a good performance from Leigh (at least its much better than Fonda, who seems at a lose for words half the time) and some impressive visuals. The shots of the foreground character in totally silhouette and the background in total view is very original and evocative. However, when the film’s biggest shock is that Hedy swallows (if you know what I mean), you know that you’re in for a movie that has little redeeming qualities.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks