Compromising Positions

Compromising Positions is a 1985 comedy that represents the limbo midsection of the decade. It is part mystery, part comedy, part women empowerment - and none of the parts are very solid.

Susan Sarandon stars as an unsatisfied housewife who used to be a journalist and now relies on her husband Edward Herman to be the breadwinner. When her dentist becomes a murder victim, the detective, Raoul Julia, questions her. Turns out, she's not the only woman in town to be questioned, since the dentist was fooling around with a lot of his patients. Susan gets the bee in her bonnet to find the murderer herself, much to Raoul's frustration. Meanwhile, Edward is also frustrated, since his wife is stepping outside her role and picks fights with him at unexpected times. I found it uneven, with no one really standing out. Judith Ivey, Susan's raunchy friend, tried to make an impression with her nasty one-liners, but it's a pretty forgettable movie. If you want to see Susan in a comedy, just stick with Bull Durham.

Susan sarandon, who started out in the soap operas and was janet in "rocky horror"! When someone gets moidid in a small town, the whole neighborhood is talking about it. Apparently the victim was quite the ladies man, and was always on the make. So housewife and mom judith decides to try to figure out who-dunnit. But now she's a suspect herself! It's okay. Major over-acting by julia and herrmann. A bit slow in the middle. Some familiar faces... joe montegna, judith ivey, anne desalvo, ed herrmann, raul julia. Story based on the novel by susan isaacs. She also wrote "hello again", about the death of a spouse. And that also starred judith ivey, and it also had director frank perry! Perry was nominated for "david and lisa"... has anyone ever heard of that one? He also directed mommied dearest. Raul julia died young at 54.

This is a movie that you will have fun watching, and you might find yourself watching it again and again. It is certainly throwaway, and will never show up on anyone's top ten list, but it works nonetheless. Like The Late Show with Lily Tomlin and Art Carney, it involves a woman investigating a mystery, a seasoned detective and humor evolving from the lead character being involved in something so over her head. Judith Ivey has some great moments as an artist/housewife who loves her husband but seeks out meaningless sexual trysts. Her pure hedonistic attitude toward her lifestyle, and unshakable lack of guilt make for some hilarious moments. Susan Sarandon plays a naive housewife who used to be a reporter. She longs for the excitement, but is hampered by a domineering husband who wishes for nothing else from her than a hot meal and clean underwear. It's no wonder she's ripe for an affair with the lead detective on the case, Raul Julia. He finds himself falling for her despite the fact that she's driving him crazy by horning in on the case.

I love this movie for the same reason that I love Six Days and Seven Nights with Anne Heche and Harrison Ford, it's funny and has a nice romantic plot that keeps me coming back again and again to experience it. This is Sunday afternoon fodder, lazy day entertainment that won't ruffle your feathers with too serious subject matter and objectionable content. It's just a fun movie.

I really enjoyed seeing Raul Julia pining over Sarandon. Too many times he was the heavy in a film, or being subjected to the machinations of one. Here he is just a man who happens to be a detective, and the only thing heavy about him is the change in his pocket. Sarandon plays her part well, acting oblivious to her growing interest in Julia, a point that Judith Ivey makes clear in blunt and humorous terms.

It's a little silly, and you can see things coming a mile away at times, but all in all you'll be glad you rented it. My wife liked it a lot as well, and it's always nice to find a movie that women like that doesn't smell like potpourri before you even get it in the DVD player. If you like movies like Fletch, The Late Show and Six Days, Seven Nights, you'll enjoy this.

This is one of the biggest surprises to come out of the 80's. I could watch it over and over....Susan Sarandon is great (a strong and dynamic woman trapped in a dull marriage to a total jerk) - Edward Herrman plays the perfect total jerk. Judith Singer's relationship with the lieutenant played by the wonderful late Raul Julia is beautifully played out. The funniest of all is Judith Ivey with her unbelievable delivery (especially the line about the cole slaw). The tongue in cheek parody of an annoyingly incestuous suburban community is handled with subtle humor and total class. I really recommend this movie!

BTW, Compromising Positions is based on the novel by Susan Isaacs; if you love the movie you will adore the book as well.

. . .but anyone else should like it,too. I saw it for the first time in the theater when I was 19. It was the first movie I went to alone because none of my friends wanted to see a "girl's movie". It is that, but it's a wonderful one of those. Since then I've seen it a dozen times and it always makes me laugh.

Susan is wonderful as always and Raul Julia is solid, but Judith Ivy steals every scene she's in. Some of the other characters are excentric to distraction, but over all it's very entertaining. It's the kind of comedy that's amusing even if it's not laugh-out-loud funny all the time. Now it's a little dated, but still really fun to watch.