Spider's Web

a story of betrayal featuring baldwin and wuhrer scheming and trumping each other to steal his father's money. filmmakers seem to have made the most of a modest budget. considering limitations of script, star performances are excellent and overall look and pace of film is first rate. too bad the material wasn't better. as is, it's a nice diversion for 90 minutes, with a distinctive european look and feel.

DVD synopsis:

A sexy executive (Kari Wuhrer, "Eight Legged Freaks", "Anaconda") is seduced by a younger man (Stephen Baldwin, "The Usual Suspects") into stealing $40 million from his politically ambitious father. As the elaborate swindle is set in motion and their erotically-charged affair reaches a boiling point, the two begin to question the intentions of one another. Is he pampered rich boy getting his kinky kicks with an experienced older woman or is she a shrewd black widow out to make a killing? As the bodies pile up and the double-crosses multiply, one will be left holding the fortune, while the other will be caught in a web of deadly deception.

Who is going to be the overall winner? Wuhrer or Baldwin? You cannot help but wonder but what happens to them in the film is their own stupid faults. It seems that no one is this world can get enough and it is true. Everyone wants what they cannot have and what is not theirs to be deserved or had. I have watched this film many times, and there is so many double crosses, over-laps, deceit and betrayal that when I think about it, it is almost as if that the film is a jigsaw puzzle, whose pieces have been scattered after completion.

All though good, I am sorry to say that the "money" thrillers have been done time and time again and now, it is hard to find or come up with new and unique ideas.

stylish visual choices and expensive-looking locations highlight this old fashioned betrayal yarn, reminiscent of some of the early rko films, this one with a european feel; nice to look at despite a script that would have been better if cornell woolrich wrote it. while this isn't saying very much, it's probably the best performance of kari wuhrer's career. same goes for baldwin. it looks like the creative people may have cared. really sucky music and poor color timing, typical of films by this cheesy company, aren't consistent with creative directions, suggesting that producers (credits include milli vanilli) probably had the prevailing low budget hand in post-production. too bad.

I failed to see what the point of this movie is. The only thing I found entertaining was looking at Stephen Baldwin's excruciatingly sexy body. The movie went nowhere and Wuhrer gave a cheap corn-ball performance. If you are thinking about renting this movie, don't. Wait until it comes to cable. You'll thank me later ;)

This one's pretty much par for the course, as these things go. You can't complain about why Wuhrer would strut her naked body, and Baldwin makes a point of showing his ass, too, but the convoluted attempt at a high-minded, high-tech atmosphere here falls a bit flat. Most of the performances are satisfactory, though, and it wasn't hard to finish watching the whole thing play out.