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(1989) Strapless DRAMA

Written and directed by renowned author and playwright of such movies as "Plenty" and "The Hours", David Hare, with middle age accomplished female doctorate, Dr. Lillian Hempel (Blair Brown) who lives with her inspired model sister, Amy (Bridget Fonda) in England, with Raymond Forbes (Bruno Ganz) pressuring her for marriage who she may regret for the rest of her life.

It's one of those movies I do not remember too much about, and that I need to view it again, otherwise I would not have given it a pass which is a 60% some scenes may have worked for me while others do not.

Strapless is written by one of British theater's finest playwrights, David Hare. Strapless stars Blair Brown and Bridget Fonda as American expatriates in London. Blair and Bridget play sisters who are completely opposite of each other. While Blair's character is stable and a doctor, Bridget is unstable and unpredictable. The story gets bizarre with a stranger who courts Blair's character. His role gets bizarre during the film and it is never really explained away to me. Without spoiling a surprise, I don't think this film really lifts itself up from obscurity. They could have at least shown more of London, England.

If a director wanted to make a movie using the popular conception that what men want is sex, all that would be needed would be an attractive actress and a little bit of a story line. But what if the director wants to turn the tables and make a movie out of the popular conception that what women want is romance? David Hare did and produced the gem Strapless. An ordinary women on vacation meets a handsome, cultivated man who turns out to be attentive, generous and is well versed in the fine art of the pursuit. He is wealthy, has titled friends, is loving, devoted and kind and is surrounded by an aura of mystery with just a hint of danger. In short, the average women realizes the answer to any woman's yearnings, the perfect romantic partner. After meticulously creating the fantasy, Hare shows us the outcome. Blair Brown projects a sense of wonderment that this could be happening to her while Bridget Fonda, early in her career, deftly provides the dose of reality needed to support the romanticism. Bruno Ganz is, in the words of his on-screen foster mother, that rare man that loves women. Carefully scripted and well acted throughout, Strapless is a keeper.

The film mesmerized me in the same way that the male lead tantalizes the female lead. There is something so focused about the silence in this film: penetrating looks, thoughtful glances, wonderment. Author David Hare uses the actors' eyes to reveal a woman's inner cravings and a man's use of silence as a manipulative tool. The title "Strapless" suggests the vulnerability of the characters. It is a romance done with mystery and charm.

I don't get this movie, not even after two viewings. What was Hare trying to do? What was he aiming at? It's as if a committee of mixed gender had sat around a table and put together a list of the things that they believe women want to see in a man who becomes their lover. Let's see. Continental accent, of course, with no clearly focussed origin, kind of like a "continental" menu. That goes without saying. Elegance in dress and grooming. No fur balls allowed here. Smooth, yes, to the point of manipulativeness. Polite. Soft spoken, not a bit brash. Loving, caring, sensitive (whatever that is). Mysterious too. That's an important ingredient. (Why is mystery appealing?) Maybe a bit dangerous, but not towards Blair Brown, and only a bit, rather like a spirited horse is dangerous. A tender and attentive lover, although we have to guess at that. But we already know that guys with continental accents are good lovers. Bountifully rich, of course. Brown: "I'll get the check." "Ganz: "There is no check. They know me here." Blair Brown, who has a beautiful used face in this film, responds by holding Bruno Ganz at bay through most of the movie because she doesn't want to be involved again, while one imagines all the women in the audience silently screaming at her -- "GET that guy!!!!"

The performances are decent, although Ganz never smiles for fear of losing his mystery I guess. Bridget Fonda is sexy, sleazy, and not very well grounded in reality. But the plot cannot be overcome. That stereotypical male lover is a terrible insult to men and women alike. Perform a thought experiment in which the genders are exchanged and a female is the pursuer and a man the pursued. Then have the woman with an overblown body, a more than robust bosom and a big can, who drenches herself in perfume, wears tons of make up, has a penchant for dressing in black teddies and hose, wearing stiletto heels, prancing about with her tongue hanging out, and assuming postures around her target that suggests she is in a constant state of estrus. Isn't that the sort of image that Katherine MacKinnon has been calling pornographic? Shouldn't there be a corresponding pornographic image for men? If so, wouldn't this guy be in the running?