Style: Romance Crime Thriller
Director: Bob Swaim
Starring: Rob Lowe, Meg Tilly, Kim Cattrall, Doug Savant, John Glover, Dana Delany
Working Time: 91 minutes
Synopsis: Within the rich Hamptons, Tim Whalen (Rob Lowe) is a brash however penniless yacht captain-for-hire having an affair with Brooke (Kim Cattrall), the spouse of his boss. Tim’s head is turned by the arrival of enigmatic rich heiress Olivia Lawrence (Meg Tilly). They begin a romance, and Tim is launched to Olivia’s despicable step-father Gateworth (John Glover) and her highschool crush Mike McGill (Doug Savant), now a police officer. Love blossoms between Tim and Olivia, however all will not be what it appears.
What Works Effectively: The sheer audacity of a soapy plot packing a number of sharp twists, steamy intercourse and nudity, grasping snakes slithering within the gardens of the rich, and real love between a mismatched couple, needs to be saluted. John Barry gives an opulent music rating to accompany the tony environment, and the solid members totally purchase into the chicanery. John Glover because the perpetually drunk and all the time contemptible step-father wins the deliciously over-the-top award.
What Does Not Work As Effectively: A lot of the characters are fascinating sufficient to deserve extra background context, however the quick working time imposes truncation. In fact not one of the legal plot parts make in the least of sense, and actions serve the script on the expense of frequent sense. As soon as the double-crosses and character improvisations kick into gear, the dissonance of pure lunacy dominates.
Key Quote:
Gateworth: You do not assume. I feel. You carry out.
