The Hot Spot

If you are like me, you might have turned on HBO late the other night, and thought.... "Damn, a Don Johnson movie". Luckily I gave this film a chance and found a real winner. Don's performance is not just good, but I think it is his best ever. Jennifer Connelly is just perfect in the role of the frail and beautiful girl next door. But Virginia Madsen steals the show. She is that woman you just love to hate, but just can't keep your hands off of. Just watch the flick to see what I mean.

As the credits rolled across the screen at the end, I realized that Dennis Hopper directed this "Red Rocks West" like film. No wonder I enjoyed it. I give it a solid 7 out of 10.

This is classic southwest film noir/romance novel brought to life. Although the plot is the standard lets kill a cuckolded, rich husband (with sex!) and take off with the new handsome stranger, the heat of this film lies in its characterizations. Don Johnson is almost perfect as the handsome stranger/used car salesman/bank robber/arsonist/white knight in shining (but obviously tarnished) armor. Jennifer Connelly's understated desperation at her situation is almost exactly balanced by Virginia Madsen's almost over the top vixen/gold digger. Other characters add the perfect backdrop to the action (Charles Martin Smith's "nose sniff" scene is absolutely classic). The twists and turns of the plot and revelations makes this movie constantly interesting.

It really doesn't get much better than this--Jennifer Connelly does a rare, for her, nude scene, as does Virginia Madsen, Don Johnson, and a bevy of strippers.

The Hot Spot is directed by Dennis Hopper and adapted to screenplay from the Charles Williams novel, "Hell Hath No Fury", by Nona Tyson and Charles Williams. It stars Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith and William Sadler. Music is by Jack Nitzsche and cinematography by Ueli Steiger.

Dennis Hopper loves film noir, he has been in some bona fide classic neo-noirs, whilst also turning his hand to directing that style of film making. The Hot Spot may not be a total success as such, but it is a superb effort that lovers of all things noir can feast upon. Story pitches Johnson as drifter Harry Madox, who lands in a Southern state town, bluffs his way into a car salesman job, plots a robbery, and then finds that two local ladies - of very different qualities - are about to change his life forever...

I found my level and I'm living it.

Hopper turns in a honest and faithful tribute to the first wave of film noir, but armed with the fact this was his era of film making relaxations, he gets to sex things up. Blending noir with erotic thriller conventions allows Hopper to pile on plenty of sizzle, which comes in the form of Madsen, who as Dolly Harshaw gives neo-noir one of its finest femme fatales. Overtly sexual and on the surface a ditz, an easy lay, it's only when this part of noirville shows its hand - in true old school fashion - does the character become memorable still further.

On the flip side is Connelly's more straight laced Gloria Harper, who Madox coverts, yet there's baggage there as well (is she virginal?), baggage which adds more potency and trickery to this smouldering hot spot hot-pot. The girls are great, but so is Johnson, he broods and has a raw masculinity most fitting for this type of role. It's a shame he didn't do more neo-noir because he has the tools for the trade. Hopper brings sweat, sweaty close ups and noirville fans, while the photography and musical accompaniments are superbly compliant to the required atmosphere.

The editing is a let down, so many scenes needed to have the linger factor, but it's not enough to kill this fine slice of noir pie. A sexy guy in over his head, devious machinations from both sexes, robbery, arson, deaths, ignorance and stupidity, The Hot Spot is far from being boring! The deliberate slow burn pacing has alienated the casual "crime/erotic thriller" film fan, but for those who love and know their noir, the fireplace cinders approach is a joy because the pay off delivers all that we hoped. 8/10

The audience for this film stayed away because of Don Johnson. In his defense, Johnson has been in a few very good films (Melanie, A Boy & His Dog), and he is very smooth and sleazy here. Fueled by a great sound-track, provided by John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis and Jack Nitzsche, this dirty edged noir evokes a Jim Thompson like feel, and is beautifully lit and shot. Dennis Hopper directed, and he did just fine. There is so little good noir in the last 30 plus years, that fans of the genre will want to see this. And if you get the chance to see it on the big screen, it is well worth it. In an era when no 'new noir' comes close to Polanski's Chinatown, this movie is way better than Body Heat or LA Confidential. It certainly looks better, and has a much rawer sensibility and texture.

Dennis Hopper delivers the goods in this meticulously conventional tale of a charismatic underachiever finding his level. Harkening back to the gender and class warfare sensibilities of the Forties, The Hot Spot excels across the board, in acting, dialogue, plotting, music, and cinematography.