Journalist Nick Eliot moves to a new city to start his new job and is naturally looking for a small flat to rent until he settles in and gets a few pay cheques. He can't believe his luck when he finds a small detached flat to the rear of a large home that is mostly empty due to the work commitments of the family in fact it is only really the 14 year daughter Darian that hangs around. As Nick starts to work, Darian is a nice distraction with her teenage teasing; but when she rewrites Nick's work and submits it as his, he realises that he has to nip it in the bud although trying to stop it at this point is more difficult than he imagined as Darian, like LL Cool J, clearly has more than a Crush.
With such an obvious plot I didn't have high hopes for this film but it seemed to start well enough with a nice bit of charm to it that supported the flirty nature of the lead character. Even at this stage though it as just OK and quite enjoyable but, as with all this sort of film, it very quickly gets down to the business of bunny boiling. As it starts to do this it loses credibility (what little it had) and just becomes a quick succession of scenes where Darian goes nuts. It is nothing special and gradually gets more and more tiresome due to the lack of anything original or interesting about it. By the time everyone starts throwing each other about in the attic I started to wonder what I had really expected this film to do, came up with the answer "nothing" and noted that it had delivered just that. Knowing just where the plot is going takes a lot out of it and nothing in it makes up for this.
The cast match the ambitions of the material by not being anything special. Elwes is hardly leading man material and isn't convincing at all; he cannot get close to the sort of emotions that should have come out of his situation and he is basic, if serviceable, throughout. Silverstone is quite impressive in her debut and, despite being very obvious, she wasn't afraid to own the film. A less kind viewer might note that she is really just doing a Fatal Attraction copy in fast forward but I'm not .no, actually I'm not kind that is just what she is doing. Support from Rubin, Smith and others is so-so but really nobody in the cast can claim much from this.
Overall an obvious movie that follows the usual Fatal Attraction clichés right down to the screaming finale. As with many of this "genre" (is it a genre now?) the lack of material results in overblown stalking scenes and a bit screaming conclusion none of which is engaging and gradually just gets tiresome. Might serve some as mindless junk food for a Friday night but there are many films that cover the same ground and cover it better.
With such an obvious plot I didn't have high hopes for this film but it seemed to start well enough with a nice bit of charm to it that supported the flirty nature of the lead character. Even at this stage though it as just OK and quite enjoyable but, as with all this sort of film, it very quickly gets down to the business of bunny boiling. As it starts to do this it loses credibility (what little it had) and just becomes a quick succession of scenes where Darian goes nuts. It is nothing special and gradually gets more and more tiresome due to the lack of anything original or interesting about it. By the time everyone starts throwing each other about in the attic I started to wonder what I had really expected this film to do, came up with the answer "nothing" and noted that it had delivered just that. Knowing just where the plot is going takes a lot out of it and nothing in it makes up for this.
The cast match the ambitions of the material by not being anything special. Elwes is hardly leading man material and isn't convincing at all; he cannot get close to the sort of emotions that should have come out of his situation and he is basic, if serviceable, throughout. Silverstone is quite impressive in her debut and, despite being very obvious, she wasn't afraid to own the film. A less kind viewer might note that she is really just doing a Fatal Attraction copy in fast forward but I'm not .no, actually I'm not kind that is just what she is doing. Support from Rubin, Smith and others is so-so but really nobody in the cast can claim much from this.
Overall an obvious movie that follows the usual Fatal Attraction clichés right down to the screaming finale. As with many of this "genre" (is it a genre now?) the lack of material results in overblown stalking scenes and a bit screaming conclusion none of which is engaging and gradually just gets tiresome. Might serve some as mindless junk food for a Friday night but there are many films that cover the same ground and cover it better.