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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic movie, not so classy presentation weak DVD needs to be remaster 5 star film, 2 star DVD presentation, February 8, 2005
John Dahl's "The Last Seduction" captures the flavor of film noir perfectly. Bridgett (Linda Fiorentino)seems to have it all; she's beautiful, bright but married to a dead end job and a dead beat wannabe doctor Clay (Bill Pullman). Clay's pulled the ultimate drug deal; he's illegally purchased medications with cocaine in them and sold them to drug dealers on the street. To do this he borrowed $100,000 from a loan shark. With the profits, he plans on living in high style with his wife. Bridget has other plans. After a fight, she steals the money with the intention of keeping it all for herself. She disappears in a small town hoping to hold on to the money until her attorney (J. T. Walsh)can complete her divorce. Changing her name, she takes a job at an insurance company. She meets Mike Swale (Peter Berg)in a local bar. He's infatuated with her from the moment he meets her. "Wendy" as she's now called has plans for him and her ex that will allow her to keep all the money for herself.
A direct descendant of "Double Indemnity" (Bridget gives her name as "Mrs. Neff" at one point a tip of the hat to the classic movie and book)and other noir thrillers, "The Last Seduction" got dumped on cable but when the distributor realized it had such a great movie they released it to theaters. Widely lauded for her role, Linda Fiorentino could have scored an Oscar nomination--if not for the fact that HBO showed this before it was released to theaters. Bill Pullman turns in a twisted performance as Clay playing with the audience expectations created by his appearence in other movies as the good guy. He gives a great performance. There's hardly a weak performance in the film and Dahl's direction is so sure handed you'd imagine this was his tenth or twentieth film not one of his first. The late great J.T. Walsh brings the oily lawyer Frank Griffith to life in a great supporting turn.
That was the good news. The bad is that this great movie has been given a basic DVD presentation and, what's worse, it doesn't look all that great. There's a number of compression artifacts. While this states that it's in the original format, it looks to me like the image was blown up from a widescreen presentation as the image looks lousy. There's no extras at all. That's too bad as this film (like "Red Rock West") deserves a commentary track from Dahl as its one of his most accomplished films. At the very least, we should have gotten a documentary on the film and why it got dumped on cable and how the film was discovered by filmgoers.
5 Stars for the movie, 2 stars for the lousy presentation by Artisan (and the lousy transfer). It's unfortunate that Lion's Gate (which distributes this) chose not to provide the package and picture quality this film deserved.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wicked Film Noir, May 26, 2000
If you are looking for a movie that has black humor, intrigue, and in your face dialogue, look no further because The Last Seduction delivers. Linda Fiorentino has all the fun as the supreme ice queen Bridget. In this clever story, Bridget has decided that her husband (Bill Pullman) is not as important as the money he received from a drug deal. She skips town with the cash only to hook up with the naïve Mike (Peter Berg) who will do anything for her, even murder. What transpires is too good to be true as sex and betrayal take center stage. The actors are outstanding and perfect for their roles. Fiorentino is a fireball who gives a ferocious performance worthy of an Oscar. Lacking any moral values, she lets it be known that messing with her will lead to trouble. Director John Dahl keeps the pace moving and throws in great twists right to the finish. This is a very underrated film noir and one that should not be missed.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where is the DVD???, August 13, 2001
One of the all-time GREAT '90s neo-noir films, I completely agree with all the other folks here. It is absolutely unbelievable that this title is not available on DVD, especially considering the fact that John Dahl's (the director) other two neo-noirs ARE on DVD--Kill Me Again and Red Rock West, both of which are also excellent.Unlike Body Heat, in which Lawrence Kasdan (director) formulaically uses film noir elements to tell a tale that grows increasingly more boring and tiresome, Dahl here does a brilliant job of weaving together elements of film noir in a completely fresh, intriguing, and powerful way. Yes, the femme fatale is here, but she's REALLY sexy and REALLY dangerous. And this HAS to be Linda Fiorentino's best performance ever. She is perfect for the part of Wendy, right on target. Bill Pullman strikes the perfect note as the sleazy, half-whiny, conniving husband and Peter Berg is also perfect as the seemingly not-so-dumb hick from upstate New York--who's ultimately shown to be, in fact, astoundingly dumb in a revelatory scene. The characters, plot, and pacing all contribute to make this a truly great thriller. It's a shame this is not on DVD, truly.
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