Gregory Hippolyte, as with the excellent OBJECT OF OBSESSION, has provided a fine touch as a director, but that is not the case in this instance since the work at hand has relegated such basic elements as plot logic and continuity, acting, and editing to ancillary positions with the greatest emphasis being the disrobing of a generous supply of attractive females in the cast, a number of whom have primarily hardcore pornographic credentials, an apparent goal being bringing to a boil the adolescent juices of what must be a targeted youthful male audience. Nick Cassavetes plays as Dr. Jonathan Brooks, a successful psychoanalyst whose clientèle, it seems, is composed exclusively of plainly desirable but sexually frustrated wives who apparently share a perception that the psychiatric couch is kin to the casting variety, but Brooks remains in control of his libido until the appearance of Laura/Lana (Shannon Whirry), a new patient with an ostensible multiple personality disorder who, while under hypnosis, metamorphoses into a vixen for whose palpable attractions Jonathan is hard run not to yield his reputation and personal safety. A viewer quickly becomes familiar with the complete coordinates of Miss Whirry's ample bosom and may long for an additional garnish from her in the way of acting technique, a not unreasonable expectation as she presents a unique enunciative style, but the overall production is so wanting in quality, and not helped by its intrusive score, with only an occasional wry bit of dialogue sifting through the tedious softcore proceedings, notably this one: when Jonathan is lured by his game playing lover to what he believes is her apartment, he is startled to discover that its tenant is yet another lingerie attired wench, and after he protests to her that he is, in fact, a doctor there to meet a patient, the young woman sneers "Since when do doctors make house calls?" - a very apt and witty line that brings Brooks up short; sadly, the claustrophobic movie, shot in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles and utilizing interior sets almost exclusively, continues on.
Review of Body of Influence
