The first thing I have to mention
regarding Fatal Attraction is that it's dated. Dan (Michael
Douglas) is rooted in 80s machismo that really doesn't ring true in
the 21st century. When Alex (Glenn Close) repeatedly
calls him a “faggot,” modern viewers don't feel sympathy for him.
Rather, we laugh at her for being incredibly juvenile. I'd say that
within a generation or two it'll be just downright bizarre, like
insulting someone by calling them a “Fan of Musicals.” It just
won't register anymore how in the Hell that was ever even supposed to
have been an insult. So yeah, a dated movie that's destined to
become even more dated.
The plot of the film is that Dan has an
affair with Alex, and Alex wants a more serious relationship with
him. Next, Alex becomes stalkery, and we find out she's pregnant.
Then, Alex becomes violent not just towards Dan, but towards his
family, kidnapping and then returning his daughter (Ellen Hamilton
Latzen), killing the family's pet rabbit, and eventually attacking
both him and his wife (Anne Archer).
I feel like this isn't a bad movie, and
it's certainly impactful, but I also feel like the weakest aspect of
the film is its focus on Dan and Alex. Fundamentally, Dan brought
this on himself. The movie was obviously intended to convey an 80’s
pro-family message against adultery by showing the extra-marital
partner as dangerous. However, in doing this, the movie tends to
portray Dan's wife, Beth, primarily as just being one aspect of his
life that is under attack. As the innocent victim, I think she would
have been the more engaging protagonist, as her family was under
assault due to the actions of her husband and through no fault of her
own.
Alex and Dan as characters are also
both weakened by the fact that, quite frankly, they deserve each
other. They're drama-whores. Either of them could have ended the
entire mess much earlier by telling Beth what happened. Alex could
have used it as a means of attacking Dan, or Dan could have used it
to take away Alex's power, claiming responsibility for his child,
saving or ending his marriage as his wife decided, and being free to
report Alex to the police as a stalker. Instead, they'd rather just
glower at each other from across the room. This interpretation
certainly isn't helped by the fact that Dan is willing to attack the
woman carrying his child without fear of harming the baby, which
makes you wonder why they bothered with the plot point if it would
ultimately have no significance to his motivation. Why do we want
either of these people as a protagonist?
Most of these weaknesses, however, come
out later in the film. The earlier scenes between Dan and Alex, in
which they hook up, fight, reconcile and fight some more, are far
more interesting. I think this is most likely because the movie was
an expansion of a short film, with the pregnancy added on to keep the
story going. This shows, with the film feeling almost like two
movies. The first, an interesting film about two people having an
affair, presented without judgment for the audience to draw their own
conclusion. The second, a fairly generic stalker-flick that just
happens to have a woman stalking a man.
If there's a single scene I need to
comment on by itself, it's the kidnapping scene. Alex picks up Dan's
daughter Ellen from school and takes her to an amusement park where
they get ice cream and go on a roller coaster. At the end, Beth is a
wreck searching for Ellen and Ellen is returned unharmed. She seems
to have had the double-motive of wanting to bond with the girl she
would make her step-daughter, while also wanting to intimidate Dan
and Beth. I have mixed feelings about this scene. On the one hand,
yes it is terrifying. Even having already seen it previously and
knowing how it ends, I feel uncomfortable watching it. On the other
hand though, the fact that she never actually harms Ellen makes it
feel like filler. You can just feel the filmmakers chickening out of
offing a kid.
This movie isn't really the classic
everyone makes it out to be, but it's certainly not bad either. At
it's worst it feels like what Pacific Heights would have been
if it was made by people who actually cared.
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