Mistery

Before I give you my opinion of this movie, I must tell you that I bought it just for the fact that Sigourney Weaver was in it. Back in late '93 - early '94, I was just becoming one of Ms. Weaver's fans. I bought the video from a little video store close to my house. When I watched it, it was (and still is!) a real treat to see a topless Ms. Weaver. Not only is she topless in more than one place in the film, the whole "famous exercise bike" scene has to rank as one of the top ten seduction scenes in my book! That having been said, as the years have passed, I've grown to like the rest of the movie for what it is: a romance/political suspense movie. I have yet to read the book, but I hope to sometime. All in all, a great movie!

The researcher of the Institute for Middle East Study Strategy, Dr. Lauren Slaughter (Sigourney Weaver), is facing economical difficulties since her paltry scholarship of 150 pounds per week is insufficient to live in the expensive London. Lauren is Harvard PHD and had lived in China for many years, and now is working in the institute that seeks a special relationship with the Arab World.

After a dinner in the house of the banker Hugo Van Arkady (Keith Buckley), Lauren receives a videotape from the Jasmine Escort Service at home. When her chief, General Sir George Newhouse (Patrick Kavanagh), publishes her research without any reference to her name, Lauren becomes upset and decides to moonlight at the escort service to raise money to move to Half Moon Street and have casual sex with eventual clients. When Lauren meets the prominent Lord Sam Bulbeck (Michael Caine), who is negotiating peace treaty between Arabs and Israelis, they become lovers. However, Lauren does not know that she is being manipulated by powerful politicians to jeopardize the work of Lord Bulbeck.

In 1986, when I saw "Half Moon Street" for the first time, I liked this film a lot. Yesterday I watched it again and I still found it a good movie without being special. The story of a Harvard PHD researcher that moonlights as a call girl is absolutely unusual and this is the good point. However, the result of her romance with the conspicuous politician is predictable and the conclusion does not surprise the viewer. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Intriga International" ("An International Intrigue")

This tale of an American academic confronting sexism, snobbery and so on while getting mixed up in Middle East politics because she becomes an expensive escort seemed very with it when it was released but now seems very dated. Its view of feminism is pretty narrow. Michael Caine plays Michael Caine and Signourney Waver stands around talking about pretrodollars. The film does not aim for eroticism, but despite that shows plenty of Ms Weaver semi-naked. The ending is a cop-out, and also features an unbelievably incompetent hit man.

Half Moon Street is basically an average film with some good talent in it. From the reviews this is a movie people either love or hate, but I think the elements balance each other out and the end result lands it in the middle of the film quality spectrum. Sigourney Weaver comes across totally convincingly as a Mid East scholar who becomes an escort by night to make ends meet (anyone who is a fan of hers will probably appreciate her many nude scenes!). Michael Caine also gives a good performance as an English lord trying to broker a secret Middle East peace deal. Where this film falters is in the script, which is too talky and it seems to take a long time for the story to get going. The last twenty minutes is well filmed and exciting, but there is a lot of plodding to go through before the good part arrives. Fans of Caine and/or Weaver will probably love it; for everyone else, not really a bad film, but not really great either.

It's the classic "girl is too poor to pay her bills so she becomes a hooker" story in Half Moon Street. Sigourney Weaver is a highly respected researcher with a low-paying job, but instead of getting an extra roommate or applying for another research position, she gets in touch with an agency and becomes a high-class call girl. Since a lot of her clients are dignitaries, and a lot of them know each other, she also furthers her legitimate career with her contacts.

While Sigourney Weaver might not be the first actress who comes to mind that you would cast as a prostitute, her cool, detached attitude works for the character. During her first appointment, she gets all dolled up, only to look at herself in the mirror, realize she's not being herself, and scrub her makeup off. She shows up in a skirt-suit, glasses, and no make-up. She doesn't use a fake name and actually tells all her clients who she is and where she works during the daytime. It's a very unusual story, since all the other hooker movies you'll watch will feature a completely different character in the lead. If this sort of interpretation appeals to you, you might like Half Moon Street.

Also, while there are quite a few topless scenes, there are no sex scenes. It doesn't glamorize prostitution, but it also doesn't really portray it accurately. Sigourney is never in any danger, or afraid that she might be, and she never alludes to being abused or degraded by her clients. She says to Michael Caine, one of her regulars, that she likes casual sex so she doesn't mind her night job. It's a bit of an offensive statement, since that's never the reason women resort to prostitution. Still, if you like political conspiracy movies, with a bit of sex thrown in, give Half Moon Street a try and see what you think.