Writer: James Dearden (Screenplay)
Starring: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Ellen Latzen, Stuart Pankin, Ellen Foley
Plot: A married man’s one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Great Thriller
Story: Fatal Attraction starts as we meet happily married lawyer Dan Gallagher (Douglas) he has a wife in Beth (Archer) and a daughter Ellen (Latzen), but he finds himself frustrated by not being able to have time with just his wife. This changes when he gets a weekend alone.
While alone Dan spends the night with new co-worker Alex Forrest (Close) getting a chance to lift all those frustrations. The one night turns into a long weekend but when Dan explains it was just that, we get to see a darker side of Alex who refuses to accept this response.
When his family returns Dan wants to move back into his everyday routine and follow through on the planes for a new home in the country. Alex on the other hand takes things serious and becomes obsessed with Dan, wanting to make him love her and will go to any means to make this happen.
Thoughts on Fatal Attraction
Characters/Performance – Dan is a high flying lawyer about to hit the next level of his career but finding himself drawn to a new co-worker he finds himself having a weekend long affair. He wants to continue his normal life but now must balance his normal life with the new obsessed shown by Alex. Alex is a co-worker that has the affair with Dan, but she isn’t mentally stable enough to be involved in this type of relationship and spends the next days, weeks and months stalking Dan and his family. Beth is the wife of Dan but the truth is we barely learn too much about her character.
Performance wise, Michael Douglas is great in this leading role because you do have to feel for his character but also understand he isn’t the nicest guy which is what he is always good at playing. Glenn Close is fantastic as this unstable woman that could do anything to get even. The rest of the performances are all good throughout the film.
Story – The story works on all the levels it needs to, we have one night affair that the husband must pay for, for the rest of his life, be it by hiding his mistake or protecting his family from the truth. This is also about how one person can become unstable once they are involved in an affair putting everything on edge.
Thriller – This does keep you on edge as you wait to see just what Alex will try to do next to get what she wanted.
Settings – The settings show us how easy it would have been to have the affair but how difficult it would be to get away from one now.
Special Effects – The effects all come off great when needed as the film doesn’t turn to them too easily.
Final Thoughts – This is a thriller that spawned almost yearly attempts to re-tale the story only to fail because this plays out just as it should be.
Overall: One of the very best thrillers out there.
Rating