Consenting Adults (DVD)

Richard and Priscilla Parker have been happily married for years and so are not particularly inclined to get to know their new neighbours, the Otises. Eddy Otis, however, is a man who will not be ignored, and soon the Parkers are fast becoming close friends with Eddy and his wife, Kay. A little too close, in fact. Eddy suggests a wife swap for an evening, something that Richard initially turns down, although tempted. Before long though, he gives ...
...Then Kay is brutally murdered and Richard is accused of the killing. But are things really as they seem? Could Eddy have something to do with the murder?

Packed with well-known actors and actresses, this early nineties thriller has the potential to be really good. Kevin Kline plays Richard Parker, and, although I am used to seeing him in more comic roles, he is believable as a man confused by desire for his neighbour's wife. A little ... more

Richard and Priscilla Parker have been happily married for years and so are not particularly inclined to get to know their new neighbours, the Otises. Eddy Otis, however, is a man who will not be ignored, and soon the Parkers are fast becoming close friends with Eddy and his wife, Kay. A little too close, in fact. Eddy suggests a wife swap for an evening, something that Richard initially turns down, although tempted. Before long though, he gives into temptation and the two swap wives for a night. Then Kay is brutally murdered and Richard is accused of the killing. But are things really as they seem? Could Eddy have something to do with the murder?

Packed with well-known actors and actresses, this early nineties thriller has the potential to be really good. Kevin Kline plays Richard Parker, and, although I am used to seeing him in more comic roles, he is believable as a man confused by desire for his neighbour's wife. A little more character development would have been a good thing just to cement his position, but given time constraints, I think he did what he could with the role. His wife is played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, still riding on the success of her role as Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. As Priscilla, she gives a fairly lack-lustre performance. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good either and I felt that she could have been played by pretty much anyone.

Much the same can be said for Rebecca Miller, who plays Kay Otis. However, as her role is so brief, I think she can be excused. She certainly looks the part, which is pretty much all that is needed from her. Kevin Spacey gives a much stronger performance as Eddy. There is something repressed about him. His exuberance for life seems slightly faked, as indeed it is as we later find out. This is a really well controlled performance, with just the right level of creepiness. Some of Spacey's performances have been, to my mind at least, over-rated, but this is one that is definitely worth a watch. Forest Whitaker also appears as an insurance investigator - the role is small, but he has such an endearing face that I could forgive him anything!

This should have been a really good thriller. It certainly has all the potential. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite come together and the main reason for this is that there are huge holes in the plot that are never explained. I am always prepared to allow a little bit of artistic licence in a plot if there are other things that make up for it. Here, though, there is just too much unexplained and it really detracted from my enjoyment of the film. To give a couple of examples: Priscilla immediately believes Eddy over her husband of fourteen years when Kay is murdered. Why would she? She doesn't know Eddy THAT well. And although Richard has been accused of a violent murder, he is allowed out on bail. He subsequently starts investigating the case himself. Now I'm no legal expert, but surely he would have been detained? Or it should have been explained. As it is, I found myself concentrating more on that than enjoying the film.

The pacing is not great either. It starts off well, keeping the viewer unaware of what is about to happen and therefore intrigued. Once the focus of the film is given away, though, it begins to fall apart and I began to lose interest. The last part of the film involves a lot of running around and panicking, and left me fairly cold. I kept hoping that there would be a surprise towards the end, but it didn't really come. I think it speaks volumes that I realised half way through that I had already seen the film - probably 15 years ago - but could barely remember a thing about it.

I really wish that someone would re-write this film, because it could have been really good. The premise is fairly original. The same actors would be fine - I don't lay the blame at their door - but what happens during the course of the film really needs to be explained and the only way that can be done is through words. Pained expressions just don't cut it here.

I had quite high expectations of this film and it just didn't reach them, so I can't really recommend it. It might be worth watching if it is shown on TV and you have nothing better to do, but it certainly isn't worth anyone going out of their way to watch it. If you really are tempted to watch, it costs £5.99 from play.com.

Classification: 15 for some sensuality and violent images.

Running time: 95 minutes 

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