"Consenting Adults" has a great premise, and the first half plays more like an observant drama about picture-perfect American suburbs, marital fidelity, the forbidden fruit, the pull of living on the edge, "does money buy you happiness?", etc. The second half is not as good as the first, and the violent climactic fight is particularly conventional. Yet on the whole this remains an above-average early-1990s thriller. Kevin Spacey's role is like a rehearsal for the double whammy of "calm psychopaths" that made him famous in 1995 ("Seven" and "The Usual Suspects"), Rebecca Miller makes a stunning femme fatale (or is she just an innocent victim? The fact that we don't know which for a long time is one of the film's strong points), the music score is very Bernard Herrmann-like, and the final shot is a very clever visual pun. **1/2 out of 4.
Review of Consenting Adults
Consenting Adults
(1992)
A sophisticated if uneven thriller, with a great early Kevin Spacey performance
8 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers