The nature and lure of power: in Dallas, a councilman is on trial for corruption, the D.A. is running for the US Senate, a serial killer is slashing prostitutes, and a professor is murdered. Amanda Reeve is assigned to investigate the law-school killing. She hears rumors that the dead man offered women students good grades in exchange for sex. The trail leads her to two wealthy, beautiful students whose alibi is provided by a librarian. At the same time, the cops close in on the slasher. Meanwhile, Amanda misses her former lover, next in line to become D.A., and a reporter is fired for getting close to the truth about the Senate candidate. Is a cover-up or conspiracy in the works?
22 Nov Pendulum (2001)
Primal Instinct
The first howler in this is the notion that Texas hosts the “finest law school in the south,” as if it were possible — and if would matter if it was. Of course, once we are introduced to a DA running for Congress, we know who the villain is. Having made that scriptwriting error, we wait to see whether the author will redeem himself with suitable twists along the way. And he nearly satisfies. There is a rather interesting red herring in an old case of “justified” homicide which is cleverly introduced. There are the double red herrings of two fishy lesbians, obviously engineered for prurient seasoning and to reference Turteltaub’s “Instinct.” There is an unexploited narrative fold: we see the murder through a witness’s eye and then see the detection through a detective’s eye.
It comes pretty close to acceptable story-wise. All the acting and directing is much worse except for one example, a woman with a mellifluous name, and the appearance of a young Nichole Kidman. If this were an intelligent film, say a Lynch project, her role as double narrator and provider (as librarian) of the backstory would have been a fine opportunity for folded acting. The director is oblivious of course, but either she or her acting coach knew — but you can tell she tried this difficult approach. She’s on my list to look out for.
Though the murderer is easy to spot, the meaning of the title is not. I suppose it refers to the ex-husband, who (we assume) swings both ways.
Posted in 2003
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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