Masquerade

A handsome gigolo (Rob Lowe) charms his way into the life of a beautiful young woman, heiress to a multi-million dollar fortune. After the loss of her mother, she lives with her selfish and domineering stepfather, a ruthless cad intent on controlling both his stepdaughter's inheritance and her relationships. The local police officer also shows emotional interest in the heiress, having known her since childhood. But who can she really trust?

'Masquerade' was filmed around the time of 'Bad Influence' and Rob Lowe's scandal --- a sometimes underrated actor who, for a while, was typecast as the bad boy (see 'Waynes World', 'Tommy Boy' and 'Austin Powers'). Lowe has nevertheless proved his versatility as an actor with leading roles in films such as Stephen King's 'The Stand' (a deaf mute), Frank and Jesse (as Jesse James) and Stephen King's 'Salems Lot' (2005). He adopts the role of deceptive gigolo with veritable ease, appearing simultaneously charming and devious. It is the script that inevitably lets the film down.

In short it is a dark and moody thriller, which focuses on the themes of money and greed, trust and betrayal. It is reasonably-paced and contains a multitude of twists and turns, though could be a bit more lively in places. Furthermore, it boasts a talented supporting cast that includes Meg Tilly, Doug Savant, John Glover and Kim Cattrall.

Matthew J Lee-Williams, Review.

Beneath the posh exterior of the small New York town and all it's high society it's pretty obvious that something's up. What it is exactly , you'll have to watch to find out. Does it make for a mildly intriguing twisty thriller? Sure. But Masquerade mostly feels like a wasted opportunity. For one too much is centered around Meg Tilly. Her character basically does nothing in this whole movie other than react to what's happening yet it insists on making her the focus of attention. And Tilly doesnt quite infuse this role with great personality either. The most interesting point scare when it goes to what Rob Lowe is up to and the few glimpses you get, make you feel how much better this could have been if it expanded his schemes into an entire plot.

I'll leave it undisclosed but the ending if this movie is one of the most rushed and sloppy you'll see for a while and really topples whatever card house its built up to that point.

I just read a review that said, basically, that this movie had too many questions. Don't get the wrong idea by reading reviews (even mine--we're all biased): this movie means to keep you guessing. Don't worry--it doesn't leave you confused at the end. It wraps everything up tidily, and ends in a believable fashion, but all through the movie, you never know who is really the bad guy. This is an intelligent, highly underrated movie. It's one of my favorites.

Masquerade is a really good Hitchcockian type of thriller, a combination of Suspicion and The Heiress in which sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia DeHavilland brought aspects of Meg Tilly's character in their Oscar winning performances. It was shot on location in the ritzy Hamptons of Suffolk County, in fact the plot is about the haves and have nots of the area. And that's an area where the haves have PLENTY.

One of those haves is Meg Tilly heir to a $300,000.000.00 fortune. She's a nice kid who properly wonders whether the men who court like her for her or bank account.

She's got one leach of a stepfather in John Glover, a character you just love to hate. But by the terms of her mother's will she can't get rid of him until she's 21. And he's a guy who's used to a very high lifestyle.

Tilly's also got two men in her life. Local boy Doug Savant whose father works in the shipyard on the yachts of the rich and famous who has joined the town police force. He's been crushing out on her since he was a little kid. But the Hamptons do have their own caste system.

And then into her life comes Rob Lowe, the handsome and mysterious stranger who captains Brian Davies yacht and on the side kanoodles with his wife, Kim Cattrall. He puts the moves on Tilly and since its Rob Lowe, who could blame a girl.

Tilly's the innocent here, that's a constant, but as the story continues and several murders take place, she doesn't know who to trust. You won't know because the plot takes several twists and the motives of the persons in the cast change over the course of the film.

For those of you Rob Lowe fans of both genders you can have ample opportunity to see him in several stages of undress with Kim Cattrall and Meg Tilly. He's also got an interesting scene with Doug Savant who looks pretty good himself that takes on some homoerotic overtones. What beautiful children those two would have if possible.

The title Masquerade refers both to the name of the Tilly family yacht and the fact that except for Tilly, a lot of these characters are not as they appear on the surface. Masquerade is a really good thriller of a film, don't miss it when it is shown.

This is one of those movies that I'm glad I saw when it first came out. I remember that the theater was almost empty, but when I was leaving I heard people saying things like, "I never expected to like it that much". Rob Lowe gained credibility as an actor in my eyes with this film(and with another film called Bad Influence).