The Age of Commercialism

A Masterpiece!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Wow. I think a comparison with "Fatal Atraction" is justified. You could call this thriller a female (lesbian) remake of that other stalker classic "Fatal Attraction" with Michael Douglas and Glen Close. Seen "Single White Female" several times over the years and this stalker thriller has stood the test of time. Even though I know exactly what is gonna happen, I am still thrilled and excited by this suspenseful stalker story.The story is about the lovely Bridget Fonda whose boyfriend had an affair. She breaks up with him, but cant pay the rent anymore. Places an add for a female roommate and there you have it: she unknowingly invited a mentally disturbed female roommate into her appartment. How disturbed this roommate is you will find out yourself... Acting is superb in this picture. Bridget Fonda is as lovely and innocent as ever. And Jennifer Jason Leigh depicts the mentally disturbed roommate perfectly. If you wanna get spooked and creeped out, then "Single White Female" is the perfect choice.

Barbet Schroeder follows up his masterpiece Barfly and his Oscar nomination for best director for Reversal of Fortune with this soapy, trashy thriller about an obsessive roommate. The whole story is telegraphed out from the moment Jennifer Jason Leigh starts acting like a wacko, which is pretty quickly and we just wait for the inevitable cat fight. The two leads are committed to this crummy material, but this is just a sleazy bore, even with the requisite nudity. I have nothing against Barbet Schroeder making a down and dirty exploitation romp, but Single White Female doesn't even deliver in the cheap thrills department.

"Single White Female" is a psychological thriller in which obsession, insanity and murder figure strongly. Its mood is dark and threatening and its shadowy interiors and exaggerated camera angles make the atmosphere even more unsettling. The story, which is based on John Lutz's novel called "SWF Seeks Same", is intriguing right from the start and builds up the tension so effectively that it becomes totally engrossing. It's suspenseful, edgy and visually strong and features a couple of characters whose interaction ultimately puts both their lives in danger.Allie Jones (Bridget Fonda) is a young New York City software designer who throws her live-in lover called Sam (Steven Weber) out of their apartment when she discovers that he recently cheated on her with his ex-wife. Allie doesn't relish the idea of living alone and so advertises for a roommate to share the cost of her large Manhattan apartment. After receiving numerous expressions of interest, Allie spontaneously decides to invite the rather withdrawn-looking Hedy Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to move in.Hedy and Allie soon become good friends but Allie gradually starts to become unnerved by some of Hedy's behaviour. Sam then tries to reconcile with Allie but Hedy intercepts and hides his letter and erases the messages that he leaves on the telephone answering machine. Later, when Sam seems to have been accepted back by Allie, Hedy tries to discredit him by killing Allie's dog and making it appear that he was responsible. Things then get worse for Allie when Hedy copies her hairstyle and taste in clothes so closely that the two women look like doubles.The discomfort and anger that Allie experiences as a result of Hedy's changed appearance becomes even more intense when she discovers that her roommate had lied about her past and her identity and had also recently started to visit nightclubs where she adopted Allie's identity. Allie then becomes desperate to get rid of her roommate but when Hedy finds out, she becomes increasingly psychotic and degenerates into blackmail, hostage taking and murder before her rampage is finally brought to a halt.Hedy's identical twin had died in childhood and the lack of completeness that she'd felt through the rest of her life was at the root of her obsession with Allie and her need to be her "twin". She carried a profound sense of guilt about her secret past and this clearly played a part in her insanity. Jennifer Jason Leigh is exceptional as this woman who not only uses three different identities but also goes through some extraordinary and extreme behavioural changes. The fact that she portrays these so convincingly is very impressive and worthy of high praise.Allie is confident and smart but also vulnerable and it was possibly Hedy's neediness that registered with Allie and made her seem to be a suitable potential roommate. Allie also has the misfortune to be badly abused by everyone around her from her unfaithful boyfriend, to a client who sexually assaults her and even a trusted neighbour who'd regularly been listening in to her most intimate conversations. Bridget Fonda is remarkably subtle and believable in the way that she conveys the various complexities of Allie's character.The quality of the acting in this movie is consistently good but the outstanding supporting performance comes from Stephen Tobolowsky who is disgustingly smug and sleazy as Allie's business client who tries to exploit her financially and sexually.

Everyone involved in the making of Single White Female should be very grateful to Jennifer Jason Leigh. Because she is the only thing that keeps this movie from being completely terrible. As it is the movie is still quite bad but Leigh's performance is enough to keep it from going down as one of the all-time stinkers. Leigh created a very compelling character. Unfortunately nothing which surrounds her is up to her standard.The story is bare-bones in its simplicity. Allison, a young New Yorker played by Bridget Fonda, is seeking a roommate. She settles on the seemingly sweet and endearing Hedy, played by Leigh. Hedy turns out to be not so sweet at all. This young woman is actually quite deranged. Quite sinister too. Leigh captures that very well. Fonda meanwhile is a bit of a dud, turning in a startlingly flat performance. Leigh's Hedy gives Fonda's Allison plenty to react to. But there are barely any reactions at all, no emotion coming from Fonda. That leaves it to Leigh to pretty much carry the movie on her own. And Leigh gives it a game effort but she doesn't have enough to work with. There is so little in the way of plot. Far too often the movie is just biding time with nothing of any consequence happening. The only performers of any significance aside from Leigh and Fonda are Peter Friedman, Steven Weber and Stephen Tobolowsky and none of them bring anything good to the table. It's a movie labeled a thriller but the thrills are few and far between. And it all leads up to an ending which is quite laughably bad. Give Leigh some credit for doing the best she could. She's clearly the best thing the movie has to offer. Whatever good moments there are belong to her and it is only because of her that the movie is not a total failure. Maybe not a total failure but still a failure nonetheless.