jerieg

Do you want to see a werewolf-coming of age story that is well done, witty and wise? Then go rent The Company of Wolves. In fact, go rent Teen Wolf. Anything but this depressing and humorless waste of a good concept.

With Diane Lane's beautiful, astonishing, must-get-the-Oscar turn in Unfaithful (since the last thing I really remember seeing her before that was Lady Beware, and if I were to bother reviewing that, my summary would be Viewer Beware, or more unkindly, Lady Beware The Between-Meal Snacks), I remembered seeing this film on the late lamented Night Flight, when it still showed uncut, uncensored, banned, obscure videos and films relating to rock and roll. Ah the good old days of early cable...

This film is a must-see, not just for Diane Lane fans, but for any rock film fan. It is a bit contrived in some parts, but brutally honest in others, and seemed to confront every '80's rock dream - from Tiffany to MTV to Madonna..and beyond - Britney and Xtina, anyone?

Many other reviews here say all there is to say about the film, since I have only seen it that one time, and can't add anything particularly pithy about it. The fact that I remember it all these years later, after just being reminded of the abysmal failure which was Streets of Fire, makes me want to see the Stains play again.

There are scenes I still remember vividly, and while some of the movie will seem forced and a bit dated even for the time it was released, it has a certain honesty that stayed with me all these years - mostly due to a powerful and honest performance by a very young Diane Lane. The same honesty and power she shows in Unfaithful...

A real shame that this movie is not available for home viewing, and should be released on dvd and vhs at a time when Lane is hopefully going to walk away with an Oscar.

I did not like this movie, but I do admire it, for the simple reason that Cronenberg tried something different.

We have the usual tormented protagonist, but this time, instead of our hero trying to figure out *why* something is happening, the audience is led to figure out *what* happened. You could call it the ultimate movie experience, because all you can do is watch.

If this film were made with the expectation of mainstream appreciation, a psychiatrist would pop in at the end to explain it all, and we could all walk away with definite views about the story we had just witnessed. But Cronenberg wants us to feel as trapped as Spider is, so we are forced to simply see what he sees. The saying, "There are two sides to every story" more than applies here, even the old belief that schizophrenia is all about split personality. In this case however it is more like double vision.

A nice try, and I liked the performances very much - Redgrave and Richardson managed to inject some subtle dark humor, and Byrne gave us perfect alternating views of a brutal and loving father. Fiennes was right for the role of Spider, he has become such an empty entity in his recent films that he fit perfectly into this role.

The problem I have with Spider is the fact that it is fairly easy to figure out, and I wish Cronenberg had trusted his audience enough to weave a much tighter and wittier web.