By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Introducing people to David Cronenberg movies hasn’t always gone well for me. Probably, because I typically begin with CRASH (1996). I love James Spader. He’s gorgeous and he has a lot of crazy sex in it. What isn’t to enjoy? Some people would say it starts with Spader’s character getting sexy with a leg wound. Eh? I’m cool with it.
The film begins with Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger) sexing it up in an airplane garage with some random dude. Her husband, James Ballard (James Spader) knows about the affairs and has some of his own too. They have no animosity towards one another and just fuck for fun. They also enjoy hearing te other talk of their sexual escapades.
Ballard gets into a bad car accident and before passing out sees the passenger of the other vehicle, Dr. Helen Remington (Holly Hunter) flashes him her breast.
At the hospital, Catherine shows up and talks about the car crash while manually stimulating him under a blanket as the film builds on the level of their unusual appetites.
Later James worries about getting back into a car, but he ends up going back to the totaled vehicle. There he sees Remington who is looking for her car. Her husband died in the crash, but that doesn’t stop her from getting down with Ballard who upon talking with her feels more confident in driving and offers her a lift..
While driving, Ballard becomes nervous again. The two bond over their shared experiences of what recovering was like. They both feel as tough there are 10 times as many cars on the road. Ballard freaks out and nearly gets into an accident. This turns the two of them on and they end up screwing in an airport garage.
Remington later brings James to an illegal car show where they simulate famous car wrecks by actually getting into accidents. He recognizes the host Vaughan (Elias Koteas)as a man he thought was a police photographer from the hospital. Instead, he finds out that Vaughan has a fetish for car accidents and was just feeding his fetish with the details.
Ballard isn’t angry. On a car ride home, Vaughan pets the doctor while James watches on. Later, the two men get to play which makes for one of the hottest scenes ever. SMOLDERINGLY YUMMY! As the Fabulous Thunderbirds once sang, “Wrap it up. I’ll take it!”
Catherine takes enjoyment in the new experiences. The thought of James and Vaughan together, makes for a intense lovemaking session between James and Catherine. Catherine questions whether James is attracted to Vaughan and gets thoroughly sensual with her inquiries. Catherine jumps in headfirst to the odyssey and exploration of it all. They all participate in semi-choreographed car wrecks and then get it on afterwards. In one particularly hot scene, Vaughan and Catherine get it on in the backseat when going thru a car wash while James watches from the front seat.
In the most infamous scene, Ballard while sexing up a gal in leg braces (Rosanna Arquette) notices a scar on her leg is somewhat similar to a certain desirable part of the female anatomy. He treats it as such and begins to make love to it………hello? Hello? Have all my readers left me? Why does this always happen when I bring up this movie?! It’s weird. I admit it’s a weird, film and an even odder scene, but it’s James Spader and it’s gorgeous and I love it.
This is one of my favorite films. It’s naughty and tawdry and all kinds of wrong and I fucking love it. It’s cast marvelously well. It’s dark and twisted and wildly fucked at times.
Deborah Kara Unger is phenomenal as the strong, self-assured female lead who is fully in charge of her own body.
Elias Koteas brings the crazy to it all. He’s in deep and plays Vaughan as almost a cult leader, but he pulls it off very well. When he talks about sexual liberation and why the car accidents are sexually stimulating, he totally sells it. There is no question that Vaughan is 100% invested in what he says. He’s not a charlatan. He’s just an oddball with dangerous self-destructive tastes and a handful of followers.
Holly Hunter, as always, is a complete badass. She rocks it as the tough as nails widow who doesn’t give a shit what the world thinks. She wears white within days of her husband dying just to show she can. She’s a fuck-the-world type of feminist and I love that about her.
Rosanna Arquette is fantastic in her supporting role and has wonderful chemistry with Spader. She’s quirky, but raw.
Of course, lastly is James Spader who is amazing. He marvelously expresses the descent into a sexual abyss with zero restraint. This isn’t a moralistic tale about what to do or what not to do. Instead, it’s a behavior study of a sexual appetite that becomes obsessive in nature. The characters recognize the dangers of the life they’re leading, but roll the dice for the experience. They’re certainly not role models or necessarily protagonists. They’re just people in the middle of something bizarrely compelling.
For the fearless among you, I can’t recommend it enough. I don’t see it available on AMAZON, but get to YOUTUBE before the Copyright Cops do and you can check it out.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8.5/10
