Great Movies- Fatal Attraction

  
   Thirty years ago, Glenn Close and Michael Douglas were granted A-list entry, and men stopped cheating on their wives(for a little while). You know I'm talking about that late-'80s cultural phenomenon known as "Fatal Attraction". Director Adrian Lyne only made eight movies, but half of them achieved substantial success, which means this talented Englishman should be better known to general audiences. It makes no sense that he hasn't had a project come to fruition since 2002's "Unfaithful". Anyway, Lyne was hot in the mid-'80s, thanks to glossy hits like "Flashdance" and "9 1/2 Weeks". I could make a list of all the domestic thrillers that "Fatal" influenced, but there wouldn't be enough room in this article. Give yourself a gold star if you knew that Clint Eastwood told a similar story in 1971's "Play Misty For Me". Nobody remembers that, because "FA" dwarfs nearly every film in this genre, and is among the greatest films ever made. Don't believe me? Are you still bothered by that box office-friendly bathroom finale?? Keep reading.

   James Dearden's 1980 short film "Diversion", about an extramarital affair gone horribly wrong, was the basis for one of the decade's defining cinematic works. Producer Stanley R. Jaffe saw full-length potential, and hired Nicolas Meyer("Star Trek") to provide some padding for Dearden's script. Brian De Palma dropped out of directing the film in it's early developmental stages, because he wasn't sold on the acting ability of Michael Douglas, after the relatively unchallenging(yet popular and profitable) "Romancing the Stone" and it's sequel. Needless to say, he felt like a fool a few years later. Michael was with "Fatal Attraction" from the very beginning, and had the total support of Paramount exec Sherry Lansing- soon to be the most powerful woman in the industry for the next ten years. Her instincts were correct, as Douglas was able to make our wayward protagonist Dan Gallagher likable AND loathsome. For most performers, it's one or the other. If there was ever an actor that owned a year, Michael Douglas owned 1987, because he also unleashed Gordon Gekko on an unsuspecting public during the holidays. Incredible.

Lyne's long shots give many scenes an elegant, voyeuristic quality.

   Alright, I'm going on record to declare Alex Forrest the best female character of the 1980s. It's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role now, even though the studio had someone younger and more conventionally attractive in mind. The only problem with that plan was Close's audition, which blew all the twentysomething ingenues out of contention, and her age(39) would turn out to be an asset. Alex is a lonely, aging career woman with a ticking biological clock, and Close was too committed to the truth to play her as a straight-up home-wrecking psycho. That wouldn't be nearly as interesting for her or us, and this unexpected depth adds layers that probably weren't on the page. You'll have to look elsewhere for black-and-white heroes and villains.

   I love the look of twisted bliss on Dan's face after he gets to fuck someone OTHER than his wife and the mother of his young child. It's almost as if he's been waiting for an opportunity like this for years. He celebrates the victory by dancing passionately late into the night with an elated Alex. Men are so vile.

Have you ever done it in an elevator? How about in the kitchen sink? Lyne does a nice job of conveying the sweaty guilt-ridden depravity of adultery. Dan looks like he robbed a bank after banging Alex for two days. Her apartment building is appropriately dilapidated, for-shadowing her fractured mental state. An inferior movie(ya, know, most movies made today) wouldn't even be thinking about such details. Late production designer Mel Bourne was a three-time Oscar nominee.

   It's time to give Anne Archer some love, because Dan wasn't doing it enough. This is a lovely woman. Beth Gallagher deserved an affair of her own, and would have had no shortage of volunteers. Lyne is making a subtle statement about the male mindset- attractive females aren't any less likely to be cheated on. I like to think that I'd stay true to Beth, but a lot of men can't eat the same breakfast cereal every morning. Boredom is inevitable. There's a difference between being faithful, and not being able to get laid anywhere else. These are uncomfortable truths.

   Alex jokes about her father being dead, and the dirty duo bond over their shared affection for "Madame Butterfly"(more foreshadowing) during a sunny day together. Dan nonchalantly informs her that he has no intention of getting further involved(apparently, he found his conscience over a spaghetti dinner). Too late, Alex is in love. Dan has time for one last roll in the hay.

   There's no such thing as casual sex. Someone is always going to develop feelings, and that's when feelings get hurt. Close shows great vulnerability here, as she continues to flesh out Alex in ways that most actresses would not have been capable of. I think Cher should have to send her '87 Best Actress Oscar for "Moonstruck" to Glenn Close before they're both dead, because the Academy just plain got it wrong that year. The story is about to take an ominous turn.

   Alex slits her wrists in a desperate attempt to keep Dan from returning to his family. This is a startling moment, made even more so by the chilling score from Maurice Jarre("Lawrence of Arabia", Doctor Zhivago"). First-time costume designer Ellen Mirojnick went on to have a long career. She put Douglas in his "Wall Street" suspenders and Sharon Stone in her iconic white dress in "Basic Instinct".

Beware the woman in black.

   An invite to see "Madam Butterfly" is rebuffed, which leads to this heartbreaking visual. Alex knows that it's over. Or is it? Why should Dan get to ride off into the suburban sunset? He's a liar and a cheater. Sure, Alex is crazy, but he doesn't deserve a clean getaway. There's something bigger at stake here.

   There's few things more horrifying(speaking for all the cavalier men out there) than learning there's a baby growing inside the clingy bitch that you're trying to extract yourself from. Dan just wanted to have some fun. Now he's in hell. Lyne's stylish direction drives this point home, following the frazzled pair from a busy NYC street down into the subway. A literal and figurative descent.

   Oh my god. I'm as nervous as Dan, and I didn't even do anything. Is Alex really pregnant? Her dishonesty leaves me in doubt. It could easily be an elaborate lie to stay in his orbit a little while longer. Her shattered psyche makes that more than likely. She now has his new address and number.

   Here's a cool shot, to cap-off a great acting exchange. This is called 'escalation'. Dan just wants his normal family life back. But Alex won't be ignored. Her growing obsession and mind games threaten to destroy everything he holds dear. After watching this scene, I'm not sure whose side I'm on(Dan's anger and allusion to violence strips him of much of our sympathy), and therein lies the brilliance.

   Psychiatrists have cited the Alex Forrest character as an illustration of 'Borderline Personality Disorder'. More than half of all reported stalking cases/incidents were found to be the result of BPD. It's easy to label someone a "psycho", that way we don't have to think too much. I'd rather get to the bottom of it. Alex is nearing the point of no return, though.

   A tape recording filled with verbal abuse is one thing. Acid on a car is another. But that bunny didn't do anything to anybody. Lyne deserved the Best Director nod for milking these moments for maximum impact and suspense.

   Dan is forced to 'fess up(he knows who did this), and Anne Archer's reaction put her name on the Best Supporting Actress slate(Olympia Dukakis won that one, damn that "Moonstruck"). It also dictated to the audience exactly how the movie needed to end. Beth Gallagher will kill anyone who harms her family. Archer went on to play Jack Ryan's wife twice in the '90s(the Harrison Ford version), but never found another showcase for her talents quite like this, just in case you needed another reason to lament the lack of gender equality in Hollywood.

   If you knew that Dan and Beth's daughter(Ellen Hamilton Latzen) went on to join the Griswald clan in 1989's "Christmas Vacation", then congratulations, you're a movie buff. Taking Ellen Gallagher to an amusement park was a creepy and clever way to crank up the torment. Alex finds another line to cross.

   An enraged Dan forces his way into Alex's apartment and physically assaults her in this intense scene. It's difficult to say that she doesn't deserve it. No words, just a near-strangulation countered by a stabbing attempt. When the police are utterly useless, you just have to deal with your deranged two-night stand all by yourself. Dan ultimately backs off, but the climactic rematch would happen on his home turf.

   If you're a proud owner of the DVD, then you've seen this disturbing alternate ending. Alex commits suicide in graphic fashion, framing Dan for murder(his fingerprints are on that knife). Test audiences HATED it. Close deemed this conclusion consistent with her research, and had to be dragged back to film the real ending which we all know and love. "Fatal Attraction" is the 16th highest grossing film of the 1980s, and I probably wouldn't be writing this article if Alex had offed herself. This is the reason that studios are devoted to test screenings. We're literally talking about the difference between $156 million and $15.6 million here. This ending just doesn't sit well, and is nowhere near as satisfying.

   The public needed to see Alex's blood, and Beth needed to be the one to shed it, after Dan failed to drown her in the bathtub. Glenn Close conceded this point, after the fact. Sure, it's a 'Hollywood' ending, but last time I checked this was a business, and nothing happens without money. Art and commerce must co-exist, and I fully endorse Alex breaking into the Gallagher home in the middle of the night, and swinging a knife around their bathroom, and it doesn't turn her into a female Freddy Krueger. It DOES however, turn "FA" into one of cinema's premier thrillers and a cable mainstay in the decades to come.

   "Bad Influence", "Pacific Heights", "Sleeping with the Enemy", "Cape Fear", "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle", "Unlawful Entry", "Single White Female", "The Temp", "The Crush", "Mother's Boys", "Fear", "The Fan", "Swimfan", "Obsessed", "The Boy Next Door", "Acrimony". Some of these movies are entertaining, none of them are "Fatal Attraction". Eight straight weeks atop the box office AND six Academy Award nominations(including Best Picture). I honestly wouldn't mind having a girl like Alex get obsessed with me. Real life is boring. This was probably my Mom's favorite movie. We shouldn't discount the opinions of all the Moms out there, even though their voices aren't as loud as the Marvel-loving masses. We'll never see another adult thriller enter the zeitgeist with as much force as "Fatal Attraction". It's one of the world's greatest movies.