Review of Fatal Attraction

Sex plus desertion equals madness--at least in the completely overwrought example offered here, wherein a one-night stand drives lonely businesswoman in N.Y.C. to stalk her weekend-affair, his wife and daughter. There's nothing remotely realistic about the scenario (neither Glenn Close's neighborhood--where fires burn on wet streets--nor Michael Douglas' job at the law firm are especially convincing), but the set-up is designed to get people talking, and on that level the movie succeeds. It's salacious controversy in a boiling pot! Too bad the filmmakers don't know how to wrap things up, resorting to camera-tricks and uneasy manipulation to heighten suspense. I'm sure there were women in 1987 who felt empowered by Close's portrayal of the 'victim', yet the way the film is engineered, she comes off as both the seducer and the scorned, and director Adrian Lyne relishes in making her a nutcase. That's OK for a thriller, but discussions about the way men treat women, the sexual politics of an extramarital affair, and man's fear of a possessive woman end right about the time Close boils the bunny. It's recycled "Play Misty For Me", though it does look good and has some strong acting. Ultimately it plays things too safely, and the ending is a mess. **1/2 from ****