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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"There's only two things to do in this town. You got a TV?", September 21, 2004
I admit The Hot Spot (1990) popped up on my radar solely due to the fact Jennifer Connelly appears topless in one scene (How many people went to see the 2001 film Swordfish based solely on Halle Berry appearing topless?). I really didn't have much confidence in the film itself, as it stars Don Johnson, and while he may have been the flavor of the month in the 80's with his Miami Vice show, he really drove me away with his subsequent, and short lived, singing career (anyone remember the song Heartbeat? It was picked as one of the 50 worst songs ever by VH1). Also, the film was directed by 60's leftover Dennis Hopper, whom I like as an actor, but was unsure of his directing talents...let's look at his directing endeavors (the one's I've seen, at least)...there's the quintessential 60's counterculture film Easy Rider, the 1988 film Colors, which focused on the ever rising gangster/criminal mentality prevalent in LA at the time (still is, as far as I know) which was, and is, really good, and then there's the 1994 film Chasers...that last one is worth about two bad films it was so awful...so two great films, and one really bad film...alright, I'll swing with it...show me what you got...
Along with Don `Sonny Crockett' Johnson, the film also stars Jennifer Connelly (I know, I already mentioned her, but she's so nice, I had to do it twice), and Virginia Madsen, an actress known for her ability to adapt to just about any role she takes. Also appearing is Charles Martin Smith, a talented and prolific character actor most people would probably recognize as the nebbish/ nerdy character Terry `The Toad' Fields from George Lucas' American Graffiti (1973), and another popular character actor William Sadler, who has also appeared in films like The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Demon Knight (1995), and The Green Mile (1999), to name a few.
The film (`noir for the 90's', the trailer says) begins with a man, who name we learn later as Harry Madox (Johnson) drifting into a small Texas town much like a predator stalking a young, innocent, and unwary prey. He insinuates himself into a position of the local used car dealership, owned by George Harshaw, an older man, with a sexy young wife, Dolly (Madsen), and a heart condition (that seems like a bad combination). Also working at the lot are fellow salesman Lon (Smith), and Gloria Harper (Connelly), as a bookkeeper. It seems Harry's got more on his mind than selling used cars, as he begins formulating plans to rob the local bank, which would be no great task as the security is lax to the point of being a non-existent, virtually begging Harry to come and take its' goodies. To complicate matters, he engages in an affair with Dolly (well, more like she chooses to have relations with him, as I didn't feel Harry had much choice in the matter, as Dolly `always gets what she wants'). And on top of that, he quickly develops an interest in sweet, young, and seemingly innocent Gloria, to which she seems responsive to Harry's attentions. And don't forget the town sleaze ball Frank Sutton (Sadler), who seems to be into everyone's business (especially with his camera with the monster telephoto lens), choosing blackmail as his trade of choice. The robbery goes off as planned with little problems, but even the best laid plans can suffer complications, and that's the case here as Harry, who the police see as the number one suspect, finds that Dolly has provided him an alibi, but for a price (it ain't money, Bubba). Things really get messy as the plot thickens, as others become involved.
I'd have to say Madsen was probably the best element in this entire movie. She's very easy on the eyes, and creates a very sexy, manipulative, vindictive, self-centered character people love to hate. When we first meet her, she seems like your classic gold-digging character interested in a dalliance (or two, or three) due to her much older husband's inability to perform certain martial responsibilities, but we learn she has plans and ambitions, much like Harry, for more than what she currently has...Madsen also appears to have the most nekkid time, flashing the audience a great number of times, completely within character, of course. Johnson did well, better than I would have thought, as the predator who soon finds himself prey, and realizing it much too late to effectively defend himself. I did feel his character, who I felt was supposed to be savvy and streetwise, fell into some easily avoidable and obvious traps, traps his character should have seen and been able to side-step, but whatever...oh yeah, for all you ladies out there, never fear, as Donnie has a few non-clothed scenes (mostly tushie shots), coming in a distant second in on screen nekkid time, far behind Madsen. Connelly's role as the sweet, young, and innocent Gloria was the weakest, presented as juxtaposition to Madsen's polar opposite characterization of Dolly. Connelly comes in third place in the nekkid on-screen challenge, but sometime a little is a lot...I thought Hopper did a great job with his direction providing the proper atmosphere and setting, and all the plot twists kept me in the dark about who was pulling who's strings. My only real problem with the film was it was just too damn long, with a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes. I think Hopper could have lopped 20 or 30 minutes off and still had a great film, but I think he deliberately kept the pacing as slow as it was to really allow for all of the elements to come together and also opportunity for the audience to take it all in...
MGM provides a really nice, clean looking widescreen transfer here, and included is the original theatrical trailer. All in all, a good nod to noir films of the past, updated for the present.
Cookieman108
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don Johnson torn between Connelly, Madsen, and Money., April 17, 2005
Having recently seen Sideways, and captivated by Virginia Madsen's Oscar-nominated/career revival performance, it was my absolute curiosity to see what she was like more than ten years ago in this steamy sexual/bank robbery thriller. She was actually very good in this B-movie, and her role is similar to Sharon Stone's role in Basic Instinct. Gotta love her authentic Texas accent here!
It's a movie about love, sex, and money. Don Johnson plays an out of towner con artist working undercover as a car salesman in a dealership owned by Virginia Madsen's hubby. She's an over-sexed bombshell and naturally she would hit on Johnson, but his true love interest is Jennifer Connelly, a secretary at the dealership. Johnson had masterminded a scheme to rob the local bank, and during his stay in town, he became involved sexually and romantically with the two ladies. It's a smart idea on how he managed to steal the big bundles of cash from the bank and then he had to figure out which woman should leave town with him.
This is pretty sexy movie, and the viewers do get to see enough nudity of the three leads. Jennifer Connelly was very young, and her affair with the sexy Don Johnson seemed like a variation of Lolita. Virginia Madsen is very striking, and so different from her Sideways role, because she's so wild, raunchy, and insatiable.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite film..!, January 12, 2002
Well, my first review and my favourite film to boot. Having read the book by Charles Williams- a gift from a friend who is big into literature and the classics, therefore I felt it might be good - I thoroughly enjoyed conjouring up the images of dusty hot Texas whilst trying to keep cool with the steamy sultry shenanigans between the two diverse female leads and Harry Madox, the main character. Watching the movie for the first time a year or so later, it struck me how rarely when one reads a book does the film match up to the imagined filmscape. In this instance it exceeded my expectations like no other film had done or has done since. With the wonderful music, evoking the atmoshpere in spades and the masterful performance by Don Johnson - hitherto remebered by most for his role in Miami vice and its lack of real depth - the movie comes alive to me as a romantic representation of what I imagine a small Texan town and its bizarre characters may be like. Jennifer Connely is indeed one of the most beatiful women on screen, a shame that many seem to have just focused on her nudity as a reason to watch (or fast forward) the movie, I guess it must tell you a thing or two about them..You will either love or hate this movie for many reasons. I make no apologies for liking this and if you want a slick, stylish movie with great music, a hot steamy atmosphere and the opportunity to watch Don Johnson perform in the movie of his career (if only for posterity) then you will do worse than spend a couple of hours watching this.
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