"One night with your wife."
By Yahoo! Movie User on
Mon, Jan 18, 2010 7:46 PM EST
This movie has a reputation for being an X-Rated foray into infidelity and greed.
The truth is, that unlike Basic Instinct, the sex is kept mostly "off camera" and what little is shown is shown tastefully.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that although all the actors are perfect for their parts, the story seems to be missing something vital, something which would've made it perfect, and without which the movie is just too bland.
David and Diana Murphy (Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore), are a deeply in love young married couple who, after the recession hits, finds themselves in a serious financial crisis.
Hoping to win easy money, they make an
ill-fated trip to Las Vegas, where they win twenty-five thousand the first night...and then lose it all the next day.
Then, just as they're leaving the Casino, they're spotted by a handsome multi-millionaire named John Gage (Robert Redford), who is imediately attracted to Diana's charms, and asks David if he can "borrow her" for luck on a million dollar crap-shoot.
After Diana wins throwing a seven against impossible odds, Gage insists (in light of all the money she just won for him), that the couple stay at least one more night...at his expense.
They also get invited to a dinner party, and Gage buys Diana a new dress for the occasion
Then, as the two men are shooting pool, after the party's begun winding down...Gage steers the conversation towards his proposal with skill, and finally he phrases it:
"One million dollars."
"For what?"
"For one night with your wife."
Though the couple initially refuses (they're insensed), they soon realize what the money could do for their future.
The next morning they call their attorney/friend Jeremy (a great cameo by Oliver Platt) who at the time of the call is being sized up by a couple of screenwriters who are looking for a lawyer who'll "walk on his mother for them."
After Jeremy rebukes David,telling him (over the phone) never to negotiate without him...
("For a woman like Diana I could've gotten you at least two million!")
The screenwriters decide they like his style and hire him on the spot.
Oliver Platt's role brought some necessary humor to this story, which I find sad, and which is lacking fire and passion.
It's a good story which could've been even better, had the film-makers put a little more energy into giving it a twist.
Suspence was needed. Romance was needed.
SOMETHING was needed.
The ending is predictable, and although it's not a particularly bad ending, it leaves us with the sense of being cheated.
This movie could've been so much more...
The talent was there.
The ideas were there.
Whoever did the casting really knew what they were doing. And the acting is flawless.
But the movie just didn't quite deliver what it was supposed to,and for that I blame the director and whoever wrote the script.
The first part of the movie is perfect...the second half leaves you feeling hollowed out and empty as though something vital were being overlooked, and you've gone from an original, gut-wrenching drama, to a sappy day-time soap just a cut above what you see on television.
It's predictable and annoying.
Everything we think is going to happen does, and it happens with absolutely no flair or excitement.
It's sad.
Though it starts out great, in the end it's just a tragic waste of time and money.
A very good half-baked idea nobody took the time to finish.
The truth is, that unlike Basic Instinct, the sex is kept mostly "off camera" and what little is shown is shown tastefully.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that although all the actors are perfect for their parts, the story seems to be missing something vital, something which would've made it perfect, and without which the movie is just too bland.
David and Diana Murphy (Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore), are a deeply in love young married couple who, after the recession hits, finds themselves in a serious financial crisis.
Hoping to win easy money, they make an
ill-fated trip to Las Vegas, where they win twenty-five thousand the first night...and then lose it all the next day.
Then, just as they're leaving the Casino, they're spotted by a handsome multi-millionaire named John Gage (Robert Redford), who is imediately attracted to Diana's charms, and asks David if he can "borrow her" for luck on a million dollar crap-shoot.
After Diana wins throwing a seven against impossible odds, Gage insists (in light of all the money she just won for him), that the couple stay at least one more night...at his expense.
They also get invited to a dinner party, and Gage buys Diana a new dress for the occasion
Then, as the two men are shooting pool, after the party's begun winding down...Gage steers the conversation towards his proposal with skill, and finally he phrases it:
"One million dollars."
"For what?"
"For one night with your wife."
Though the couple initially refuses (they're insensed), they soon realize what the money could do for their future.
The next morning they call their attorney/friend Jeremy (a great cameo by Oliver Platt) who at the time of the call is being sized up by a couple of screenwriters who are looking for a lawyer who'll "walk on his mother for them."
After Jeremy rebukes David,telling him (over the phone) never to negotiate without him...
("For a woman like Diana I could've gotten you at least two million!")
The screenwriters decide they like his style and hire him on the spot.
Oliver Platt's role brought some necessary humor to this story, which I find sad, and which is lacking fire and passion.
It's a good story which could've been even better, had the film-makers put a little more energy into giving it a twist.
Suspence was needed. Romance was needed.
SOMETHING was needed.
The ending is predictable, and although it's not a particularly bad ending, it leaves us with the sense of being cheated.
This movie could've been so much more...
The talent was there.
The ideas were there.
Whoever did the casting really knew what they were doing. And the acting is flawless.
But the movie just didn't quite deliver what it was supposed to,and for that I blame the director and whoever wrote the script.
The first part of the movie is perfect...the second half leaves you feeling hollowed out and empty as though something vital were being overlooked, and you've gone from an original, gut-wrenching drama, to a sappy day-time soap just a cut above what you see on television.
It's predictable and annoying.
Everything we think is going to happen does, and it happens with absolutely no flair or excitement.
It's sad.
Though it starts out great, in the end it's just a tragic waste of time and money.
A very good half-baked idea nobody took the time to finish.
Top Box Office
- 1.$70.2M
- 2.$35.8M
- 3.$23.9M
- 4.$3.2M
- 5.$3.0M
- 6.$2.8M
- 7.$2.3M
- 8.$2.2M
- 9.$2.2M
- 10.$1.2M