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Black WidowRating:
Release Date: 03 February, 2004 Retail Price: $9.00 OUR Price: $7.99 You SAVE: $1.01! Cast: Complete Cast (13 total) |
Black Widow Reviews
Chasing After The Phantom!
Theresa Russell seduces rich men by conforming to their dreams in terms of appearance and behaviour, marries them, and then kills them. She thinks her means are undetectable. But Justice Department investigator Debra Winger has noticed a pattern, and becomes obsessed with tracking Russell down. She follows her to Hawaii (where she is working on her latest target), befriends her, and the stage is set for a psychological chess game.
The idea is promising, but the execution is uninspired. There is too much time spent on pretty pictures of Hawaii, and the narrative lacks drive, eroticism or real suspense. We are told that the two characters are obsessed, but aren't properly shown that they are, or even why they are. Finally, the resolution is particularly unconvincing.
The sound is 2.0, but is a pretty solid, impressive 2.0. The image is available in both fullscreen and 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen aspects.
Basic menu, and the extras are two TV spots and the theatrical trailer, along with trailers for Don't Say a Word, High Crimes and Joy Ride.
Middling stuff by every measure. Not great, not bad. Just kinda there.
A Two Person Noir
You can just about forget everyone else in this film other than Debra Winger and Theresa Russell. This sexy film is basically a two person film noir shot in bright colors, some of it in Hawaii. It is filled with excitement and seduction. Both the leads are wonderful to watch, their chemistry magnificent in this Bob Rafelson (Man Trouble, Five Easy Pieces) film.
Debra Winger is Alex Barnes, bogged down in a government desk job dealing with statistics. But when she sees a pattern of deaths that lead to the icy beauty Theresa Russell she becomes obsessed with catching a killer. Theresa Russell, who has used more names than Jason Bourne, is just as smart as she is sexy, and almost the entire film is one long seduction scene as Russell spins her web around Alex.
It seems a lot of rich men have suddenly died on Russell and Alex knows why. She is what is called a Black Widow, a woman who mates and then kills. No one has found any evidence to prove it, however, and Alex's attempt to catch her at it becomes murky as a seduction begins to take place.
The locations and the stars are beautiful and as Winger and Russell circle each other in this game with deadly stakes you can't take your eyes off them. Winger's Alex is smart and determined, but vulnerable, and Russell gives a flawless and sexy performance as a smart and icy beauty with a heart full of venom.
The electricity between the two characters jumps off the screen. The pool scene where they first meet gives us an indication of what is to come as Alex attempts to get close to Russell, with some unexpected twists. The formost of these is a scene when Alex gives Russell a Black Widow pendant, a spider who mates and kills its lover. Russells response plays with the fragile but determined Alex as she begins to doubt herself.
You don't want to miss this one. It's gorgeous to look at and has two riveting performances from Winger and Russell. You can't find a better one than this.
More Customer Reviews (13 total)
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