You'll recall this genre climaxed in the early '90s with "Basic Instinct" and AIDS at the back of everyone's mind, but became more or less redundant as the connection between illicit affairs and sudden death came to seem more than a little hysterical. There's no such thing as safe sex in an erotic thriller. And while she's taking care of business, the rest of us might ponder why we're treated to traumatic flashbacks to Rowena's childhood. But before she goes to the cops, Ro needs to get up close with the adman, online and in person, with a view to catching Harrison's constantly roving eye. He's used and abused Ro's childhood friend Grace (Nicky Aycox), who is pulled out of the East River only days after threatening to blackmail her ex-lover.
The publisher kills that story, but our ace reporter has a more personal motive when it comes to incriminating Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis, exuding his customary wry detachment), the most powerful advertising man in New York. Still, looks can be deceiving - that's one less-than-original observation director James Foley plants early on as Rowena exposes a hypocritical "family values" senator with a handsome young skeleton in his closet.
Well, if you were a scrawny supporting actor playing all his scenes off Halle Berry, you might do the same. Ribisi seizes on this rather rote sidekick role and basically jumps up and down screaming "Look at me!" (metaphorically, obviously). In fact the only detail that truly says "journalist" here is Ro's pathetic dependence on tech support, in the fidgety form of devoted computer geek Miles (Giovanni Ribisi). She looks like a million dollars, but doesn't exactly scream Seymour Hersh.Įven when she's working undercover as a temp, her wardrobe remains firmly in the upper tax bracket. As tough investigative reporter Rowena Price in "Perfect Stranger," Halle Berry sports lip gloss and a "newsboy" flat cap.
(CNN) - Back when Kirk Douglas and Spencer Tracy were on the job you could spot a newshound by his rolled-up sleeves, the way he wore his fedora and his two-fingered typing style (with a smoke and a flask nearby).įashions change.