Masquerade

This is one of those movies that I'm glad I saw when it first came out. I remember that the theater was almost empty, but when I was leaving I heard people saying things like, "I never expected to like it that much". Rob Lowe gained credibility as an actor in my eyes with this film(and with another film called Bad Influence).

Masquerade is a nifty tight thriller that's fun, and wonderfully packaged as one with kick, and some real big shocks, nasty twists that sting, all done in an impressive duration of 88 minutes, in an '88 hit surprise, in which so many things happen. Lowe is well cast, and does do the role justice, as a born yachtsman/playboy, trying to work his way up the ranks, by sleeping with hot young wives, and resorting to some deceptive and selfish motives, even graduating to murder. He falls for this young heiress (Tilly) who's very good, hitting the role with honest to god, truth, as an innocent, naive young girl, who's just lost her mother, and is fighting over her fortune with his last pig of a stepfather (excellent, the film's firey star, bedding floozy, Delaney). Yeah, greedy motives, interwoven with jealousy on and betrayal make for this impressive little thriller. Savant is the other second best performance, as the jealous ridden cop, and childhood friend of Tilly's. There's an even aftershock on Lowe's part, an act of retraction, you might say, which was another feature that impressed me like every surprisingly good performance from the cast, in a thriller that's fun, where at the end of the too short duration, we're kind of sad the ride is over.

Masquerade is a really good Hitchcockian type of thriller, a combination of Suspicion and The Heiress in which sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia DeHavilland brought aspects of Meg Tilly's character in their Oscar winning performances. It was shot on location in the ritzy Hamptons of Suffolk County, in fact the plot is about the haves and have nots of the area. And that's an area where the haves have PLENTY.

One of those haves is Meg Tilly heir to a $300,000.000.00 fortune. She's a nice kid who properly wonders whether the men who court like her for her or bank account.

She's got one leach of a stepfather in John Glover, a character you just love to hate. But by the terms of her mother's will she can't get rid of him until she's 21. And he's a guy who's used to a very high lifestyle.

Tilly's also got two men in her life. Local boy Doug Savant whose father works in the shipyard on the yachts of the rich and famous who has joined the town police force. He's been crushing out on her since he was a little kid. But the Hamptons do have their own caste system.

And then into her life comes Rob Lowe, the handsome and mysterious stranger who captains Brian Davies yacht and on the side kanoodles with his wife, Kim Cattrall. He puts the moves on Tilly and since its Rob Lowe, who could blame a girl.

Tilly's the innocent here, that's a constant, but as the story continues and several murders take place, she doesn't know who to trust. You won't know because the plot takes several twists and the motives of the persons in the cast change over the course of the film.

For those of you Rob Lowe fans of both genders you can have ample opportunity to see him in several stages of undress with Kim Cattrall and Meg Tilly. He's also got an interesting scene with Doug Savant who looks pretty good himself that takes on some homoerotic overtones. What beautiful children those two would have if possible.

The title Masquerade refers both to the name of the Tilly family yacht and the fact that except for Tilly, a lot of these characters are not as they appear on the surface. Masquerade is a really good thriller of a film, don't miss it when it is shown.

(1988) Masquerade DRAMA THRILLER

"Masquerade" is a name of a boat that's intended for sail racing owned by wealthy heiress Olivia (Meg Tilly). The film appeared to look like an erotic drama but succumbs to becoming an unsuspenseful thriller centering on yuppie looking, Tim Whalen played by Rob Lowe hired to live with a wealthy extravagant couple in the Hamptons to lead a sail racing boat. He's then gets attached to Olivia who's inherited a substantial fortune from her mother, while living with her stepfather who's already gotten a girlfriend played by Dana Delany. By looking at the big picture, this film may have been the basis for other films that followed particularly 1998 "Wild Things" since they're some unexpected twists along the way, and 1992 "Basic Instinct" because of the approach to some erotic scenes as well as the musical score. It's basically a little mystery thriller movie with almost zero suspense, that could've been another Hitchcock's Suspicion or The Lady From Shanghai. What we get instead is a dramatized drama soap opera with splashes of some erotic scenes which doesn't offer any new surprises even though it does have it's moments which can keep viewers interested until the end without any care. And Rob Lowe is too shallow for this role to be taken seriously.

Okay, could Rob Lowe be more naked in more movies? That said, this isn't bad it all. It's very Dick Wolf in the incredible number of switchbacks the storyline endures, but essentially compelling and capable of retaining surprise. The end is ham-handed at best, and Jennifer Tilly is essentially a cardboard cut-out good girl with her little lace collars. Both Rob Lowe and Doug Savant are competent and almost complicated as prominent figures in the heiress' life. Rob Lowe is perfect for the role, although the director doesn't make the most of either his complexity or his simplicity, whichever way you choose to see it. Doug Savant is especially sharp, but his character's emotional motivation is never clear and the extent of his involvement remains murky. (For example, did the mother die accidentally or on purpose?)