Le Dossier Rachel

A delight indeed, albeit a little dated now. 8 years ago, this was one of those movies I watched every day almost (along with the Breakfast Club) - hey, I was 19. It deals with what the main character calls his "move into manhood" and centres around Dexter Fletchers character and his "love", Ione Skye.

Martin Amis' novel of the same title is fairly faithfully painted onto the screen, though with tweaks to bring us from the 60's novel to the 80's movie (i.e. less drugs and sex!).

For a British movie, a top cast, excellent acting, memorable script, unusual and racy direction...8/10 today, 10/10 when I was 19!

I confess: I only watched this movie because a friend of mine told Ione Skye took her clothes off in it. Well, I may not have watched it with the best intentions, but I ended up liking the movie for a lot more than Ione's breasts.

I had a similar relationship at about that time (nerd wins over babe, finds out she's rather annoying) so I could identify with this film.

One scene really got to me (in a good way). Rachel has just climbed into a taxi, but the window is down. Charles finally works up the nerve to try to kiss her through the window. Just as his lips are about to meet hers, the cab pulls away. The look on his face is pitiful but then you see her beautiful smile. A magical scene if ever there was one!

Oh yeah, Ione Skye DOES take her clothes off repeatedly in this movie, so guys who don't go for this sort of thing might give it a chance and be pleasantly surprised. I was.

Despite some fine performances and great source material, this movie doesn't stand up as well as I'd hoped it would. It's either too dark and serious for the comedy it hopes to be or it's too gauzy for the serious look at modern teenagers in Britain that it hopes to be.

Still, it's interesting to see Dexter "did you know I was in Bugsy Malone AND Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrells" Fletcher, Ione "wow, am I really this naked in this movie" Skye, Jonathon "why aren't I working more often?" Pryce and James "didn't I play this same character only with more lines in Pretty in Pink" Spader in a movie that hardly any American has ever heard of...

This has its clever moments, its funny moments, its heartbreaking moments and a few moments that are meant to be (and are) disturbing... It's not as clever as its American cousin, or as funny...but it does have a bit more depth...and Ione Skye is REALLY naked in it.

That's worth a rental, isn't it?

Despite being a little predictable at times, this solid little movie succeeds rather well. Both Fletcher and Skye give wonderful performances as the leads, and Pryce is fun every time he is on the screen. It has a good mix of comedy and drama, and at no point did any of the emotional turns seem out of place. I had been wanting to see this film for some ten years before finally seeing it tonight, and I am very pleased that I took the time to watch it.

Dexter Fletcher stars as Charles Highway. A young man with serious problems with relationships. Until he meets Rachel Noyce(Ione Syke). A sexy, young woman, whose boyfriend is none other than James Spader.

Fletcher is adequate in his post 'Lock Stock' career, but the person who steals every scene with his unusual style of comedy, is Jonathon Pryce, as Charles' brother in law, Norman.

The story is somewhat predictable in parts, but manages to stay watchable for the entire time. Rating=3/5