Overview
While his wife (Anne Archer) and daughter are out of town, successful attorney Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) has a one-night stand with Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), the publishing executive he has just met. He has no idea what he's getting into. Immediately after the encounter, Dan wants to put the experience behind him, but Alex refuses to let go of their relationship. Driven to madness by his rejection, she turns to violently harassing both Dan and his family. This terrifying morality play, which takes the consequences of infidelity to new heights of horror, became one of 1987's biggest box-office successes. Academy Award Nominations: 6, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress--Glenn Close, Best Supporting Actress--Anne Archer, Best (Adapted) Screenplay.
Awards:
Main Cast & Crew:
Adrian Lyne - Director
Michael Douglas
Glenn Close
Anne Archer
Ellen Hamilton Latzen
Stuart Pankin
Ellen Foley
Fred Gwynne
Meg Mundy
Details
- Format: DVD
- Run Time: 119
- Color Format: Color
- UPC: 032429273536
- Genre: Suspense
- Rating: R (MPAA)
- Release Date: April 2002
Movie Reviews
Synopsis:
A happily married New York City lawyer engages in a one-night stand while his wife and child are visiting his in-laws. When he tries to end the affair, she refuses, and initial harassment (phone calls in the middle of the night) escalates until she has terrorized the entire family. Soon the lawyer realizes it's either him or her... and he sets the stage for a final showdown.
Notes:
Color by Technicolor. Shot in New York City and Westchester, New York in Panavision.
Approximate budget $14 million.
Began shooting September 29, 1986; completed October 1986. Released theatrically in USA September 18, 1987.
Title design by Dan Curry; title and opticals done by the Cinema Research Corporation.
The film is based on writer James Dearden's screenplay for "Diversion," a 45-minute film he made in 1979.
Glenn Close is a former member of Up With People.
Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Classification.
Reviews:
"...An ingeniously teasing style....Sure to spark a lot of cocktail party chatter..." - 09/18/1987 New York Times, p.C10
"...The screws are tightened expertly in this suspenseful meller....Glenn Close throws herself into the physical abandon of the early reels with surprising relish, and becomes genuinely frightening..." - 09/16/1987 Variety
"...Glenn Close is infernally brilliant....Lyne's direction here is the tightest and most effective of his career..." - 09/18/1987 Los Angeles Times, p.C1
3 stars out of 4 -- "[An] iconic 80s movie....Close gives a career performance..." - 06/08/2009 Premiere
