John Dahl made a trio of entertaining neo-noir thrillers, Kill Me Again (1989), Red Rock West (1993) and, best of all, The Last Seduction (1994). It was the third that made the biggest impact, even though the film premiered on HBO, the response from critics and film festivals was such that it earned a belated theatrical release. Sadly the HBO airing made Linda Fiorentino ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Actress — her femme fatale Bridget Gregory was among the most talked about performances of the 1990s.
After ripping off her abusive husband’s ill-gotten gains, Bridget hides out in a small town and picks up a naive insurance agent in a bar (Peter Berg). She soon decides he has his uses, and tries to manipulate him into helping her with a murderous scheme. Meanwhile, a private detective hired by her husband is on her tail.
This is a rare noir told with the femme fatale as the protagonist. And while Bridget is ruthlessly amoral (she’s no hypocrite), she’s also several degrees smarter than anyone else in the movie, which makes her quite irresistible — or at the very least, very entertaining to watch.
Dahl gives us Linda Fiorentino as the baddest of the bad women, the most full-blown yet utterly believable femme fatale to come along in years.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
A devilishly entertaining crime story with a heroine who must be seen to be believed.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
Media Partner
John Dahl
Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, Bill Pullman, Bill Nunn
USA
1994
English
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Credits
Producer
Jonathan Shestack
Screenwriter
Steve Barancik
Cinematography
Jeffrey Jur
Editor
Eric Beason
Original Music
Joseph Vitarelli
Production Design
Linda Pearl
90s, Baby!
Ten years. 11 weeks. 90 films from the 1990s. This summer, 90’s Baby! takes a deep dive into a defining decade of cinema.
Unforgiven
Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) is face down in pig shit when we first see him. He's a bad farmer, but has a natural facility for killing people – a vocation to which he returns in a quest that combines both profit and justice. Or so he chooses to believe.
Malcolm X
In an indelible role, Denzel Washington give us a layered, compassionate, conflicted man who finds the strength in Islam to transcend his demons and confront the inequity and racism in America head-on. Along with Do the Right Thing, this is Spike Lee's greatest film.
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
A bona fide classic and arguably the greatest Canadian film of the 90s, Girard's dazzling deconstruction of the biopic gives us the mercurial pianist Glenn Gould as Picasso might have rendered him, a cubist portrait combining multimedia vignettes.
Dazed and Confused
The last day of high school in May, 1976: seniors debate party politics while next term's freshmen run the gauntlet of brutal initiation rites, barely comforted by the knowledge that they'll wield the stick one day.
Short Cuts
Altman's adaptation of Raymond Carver short stories, Short Cuts weaves between 8 or 9 overlapping storylines and 22 characters. it's a teeming, caustic and compassionate human comedy; a singularly astringent, often cynical view of America and Americana.
Three Colours: Blue
The first of Kieslowski's acclaimed Three Colours Trilogy, inspired by the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity and the French flag, the Tricolour. Blue stars Juliette Binoche as a young woman grieving her husband and child.
Schindler's List
One of the most acclaimed films of the 90s, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark is the story of a German industrialist whose conscience is stirred to save his Jewish workers from the camps.
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Three Colours: Red
Irène Jacob plays Valentine, a runway model living in Geneva, who crosses paths with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who's a bit of an eavesdropper. Initially repelled, she becomes intrigued by this man, as do we... Kieslowski's sublime adieu.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings begins with an onslaught of fucks. It's the first signal that this rom-com will break from tradition, despite the ritualized structural conceit described in the title. The witty screenplay is by Richard Curtis — it's still his best.
The Lion King
With its beautifully drawn East African setting, its humour, pathos, and engaging characters, as well as its stirring songs, The Lion King stands as the pinnacle of traditional Disney family entertainment.
Image: © Disney, 1994
To Die For
Buck Henry (The Graduate) wrote this acidic black comedy about a ruthless weather girl on the make (Nicole Kidman in her breakout role). A young Joaquin Phoenix is the dim teen she seduces on her way to achieving stardom.