Zandalee - Das sechste Gebot

Nicholas Cage is mis-cast as an irrestistable sex-god/brooding artist who comes to stay with an old friend (Judge Reinhold) and proceeds to VERY unsubtley seduce his wife, Zandalee (Twin Peaks' Erika Anderson). Despite his lank, greasy (thinning) hair, scraggy goaty, boorish manner and an unfortunate fondness for spouting pretentious philosophy, rather than find him hilarious she is inexplicably drawn to him.

The only thing that keeps the interest from flagging throughout this film are the strong sex scenes and the gratuitous nudity involving the stunning Anderson, which begins, promisingly enough, before the opening credits have even finished and is sprinkled generously throughout the film. On the downside, you also have to see Judge Reinhold's butt - not such a pretty sight - but sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

ZANDALEE has an appalling score of 4,3 and only 15 reviews to date, and according to the trivia section, in the US was released straight to video. All this leads to a terrible movie, and when I saw it, I could see why.

Zandalee Martin is a young store owner that is married with Thierry Martin (Judge Reinhold) but is also frustrated because of his lack of passion and their marriage hit a snag. Soon she starts an affair with Thierry's friend Johnny Collins (Nicolas Cage), a painter that literally puts body and soul in his paintings. After a while Thierry discovers the affair and he and Johnny will fight over Zandalee. How it will end? See the movie... or better don't.

The main issue with this movie is that there is nobody to like or care about in the least. Erika Anderson is gorgeous but can't act outside a paper bag, Judge Reinhold looks like stoned and Nicolas Cage excells in overacting (something his haters complain with recent movies) and often gets mad for no reason at all. I was even tempted to leave this movie half-way, and I can't believe I saw it all. Only of interest for folks who watch a steady diet of bad movies, as they may get a kick out of it.

There is a reason this went straight to video- the story is smarmy, Nick Cage plays Johnny in a sleazy way- sex in churches, and other scenes that border on tasteless(like the scene in the laundry room) taint this movie. Judge Reinhold as the cuckold is okay- but the movie itself with its themes of degradation and revenge are not well done. But it is a good film for trivia contests- because so few people saw it.

The movie is not as bad as the overall rating shows. I presume too many people saw it on account of Nicholas Cage and got disappointed. The problem is that the drama does not develop in one direction. It ended as a banal story about adultery culminating in a theatrical suicide and an unconvincing tragedy. Cage (Johnny), the outsider, turned up to be the guiltiest of all. Yet, until the middle the movie had developed around Anderson (Zandalee) and at some point it looked as if the victim of the drama would be exactly Cage who fell desperately in love with beautiful Anderson while she was using him to overcome her frustrations with husband Thierry. That seemed to be the purpose of the two supporting characters: Tatta and the gay shop-attendant who were pushing her into adultery, so as to save her marriage. At some point, either when shooting or when cutting, the concept changed and the triangle lost everything even remotely intriguing.

Is soap opera for slopeheads. This movie is billed as a "thriller". That Reinhold cannot act very well, Cage makes up for by overacting. The full frontal nudity cannot save this wretch. So if you view it for the nudity - OK. That works because it is all at the beginning, so after 15 minutes turn it off, go for a walk.