User reviews

If you are like me, you might have turned on HBO late the other night, and thought.... "Damn, a Don Johnson movie". Luckily I gave this film a chance and found a real winner. Don's performance is not just good, but I think it is his best ever. Jennifer Connelly is just perfect in the role of the frail and beautiful girl next door. But Virginia Madsen steals the show. She is that woman you just love to hate, but just can't keep your hands off of. Just watch the flick to see what I mean.

As the credits rolled across the screen at the end, I realized that Dennis Hopper directed this "Red Rocks West" like film. No wonder I enjoyed it. I give it a solid 7 out of 10.

HOT SPOT is what Virginia Madsen calls her loins, dear ones. Don Johnson does his best to keep them cooled them off but he has trouble keeping up with her, especially since Don has his eye on the luscious and very young Jennifer Connelly. Don plays a drifter who picks up a job at a used car lot in a small Texas town. He soon finds himself bedding the owner's absolutely insatiable wife. And he is soon working on the oh-so innocent Connelly. The lusty trio is ably supported by such veteran character actors as Jerry Hardin, Jack Nance and Barry Corbin, and this his hot-as-hell, steamy production was directed by none other than Dennis Hopper. A great film for adults. The ending is a classic. I wonder how much fun the notorious lothario Johnson had while filming this, since he spends a lot of screen time in the arms of Madsen and Connelly, both of whom are at the top of their form.

OK, quick, name a Don Johnson movie. No, you can't say Miami Vice or Nash bridges, as they are TV shows. Honestly, I could only think of one: Tin Cup, Now, I have two burned into my memory.

And, burn is the appropriate term as this movie is hot! Johnson plays a bank robber, con man, and drifter that pops into a Southern town at just the right moment. He lands smack dab in-between Virginia Madsen, who gave us one of the last views of her extremely hot body; and Jennifer Connelly, a bi-sexual beauty that was skimming from the company, and who also gave us lots to cheer about.

What a choice! Johnson tends to gravitate towards Connelly, as Madsen is, after all, married to his boss, but that's a minor detail that can be taken care of in a manner that most of us would thoroughly enjoy.

Yes, there is a bank robbery, and a murder thrown in, along with some blackmail and trying to stay one step ahead of the Sheriff (Barry Corbin), but it is not the reason you would watch this film.

If you don't have a TV, there is only one other thing to do. Oh, Yes.

Yow! This movie is hot!! Everything about the setting, characters, and situations is sizzling. A drifter (played by Mr. Cool himself, Don Johnson) wanders into town with the intentions of setting up a bank robbery and moving on, but quickly gets caught in the small southern town's sticky web. The web is spun by the only two major attractions the town has to offer: the blonde (Virginia Madsen) and the brunette (Jennifer Connelly). The plot gets as thick as the humid air as all the characters begin to collide. The film offers good acting by the aforementioned as well as Charles Martin Smith, Barry Corbin, and William Sadler. The score and the setting bring the movie to life on the screen as the anxiety and raw instinct reach a climax. The movie is a slow-mover at times, but is definitely worthy of recommendation.

Dennis Hopper has been involved in movies for more than fifty years now. He is a man that has taken chances in his choices of roles, and as a director. "The Hot Spot", based on Nona Tyson's novel, and with a screen play by Charles Williams seems to be the kind of project that would attract him. In fact, he almost succeeds in making a remarkable movie, but he should have tried some badly needed editing to tighten up this tale about crime and revenge in Texas.

"The Hot Spot" will reward fans of Mr. Hooper. He shows he can make a bland actor like Don Johnson appear better and give a somewhat interesting performance as Henry Madox, the drifter who appears out of nowhere and who we know is up to no good.

Henry's good looks is a magnet for the two women in the story. One is the beautiful, and somewhat naive Gloria Harper, who works for the used car dealer, George Harshaw. George's wife, the sultry Dolly, also has plans for the hunk now working for her husband. It's clear this triangle will get into knowing one another, in more ways than social acquaintances.

What Dennis Hopper accomplished in this film was to get excellent performances from his principal actors. Virginia Madsen, notably, is seen as the vamp that knows how to get what she wants all the time. Jennifer Connelly underplays Gloria Harper. Don Johnson is likable in one of the best things he has done in films. William Sadler is perfectly creepy as the black mailer. Veterans Jerry Hardin, Barry Corbin, and Jack Nance, are also good.

The moody musical score by Jack Nitzche serves the film well. Dennis Hopper achieves in presenting this moody tale with his inspired direction, if only he could have trimmed it a little bit. "The Hot Spot" will not disappoint to fans of the genre, although a little patience is required.

Probably 2/3rds of the video rentals come from horny old men who ignore the rest of the flick to surf forward and gaze at Jennifer Connelly's amazing bare teenage chest. Fair enough, Jen's probably got the best bod in Hollywood history, she doesn't disappoint, let's move on.

Beyond the titillation value, there's definite appeal here. Virginia Madsen is second in her generation only to Kathleen Turner, IMHO, in the degree of sheer vampiness she can bring to the screen. While Dennis Hopper's not often in control on the screen, his portrayals are almost always *interesting*, and like Jennifer, he doesn't disappoint either. Don Johnson puts in a workmanlike job in his own right.

While the film's a bit overlong for what it is and a touch too predictable, it's far from a waste of a viewing evening.

6/10.

This is classic southwest film noir/romance novel brought to life. Although the plot is the standard lets kill a cuckolded, rich husband (with sex!) and take off with the new handsome stranger, the heat of this film lies in its characterizations. Don Johnson is almost perfect as the handsome stranger/used car salesman/bank robber/arsonist/white knight in shining (but obviously tarnished) armor. Jennifer Connelly's understated desperation at her situation is almost exactly balanced by Virginia Madsen's almost over the top vixen/gold digger. Other characters add the perfect backdrop to the action (Charles Martin Smith's "nose sniff" scene is absolutely classic). The twists and turns of the plot and revelations makes this movie constantly interesting.

It really doesn't get much better than this--Jennifer Connelly does a rare, for her, nude scene, as does Virginia Madsen, Don Johnson, and a bevy of strippers.

You've heard it all many times before....check this out for a young and stunning Jennifer Connelly. By the way, Virginia Madsen holds her own here very well too. Other than that, there really isn't much to recommend it.

Don Johnson plays a drifter who gets caught between Connelly and Madsen. By the way, both are dealing with their own issues. There's all the traits of classic noir: lust, sex, betrayal, etc, etc. There's style and atmosphere to spare, but sadly not much substance. Johnson, Madsen, and Connelly aren't asked to do much in the way of acting, and they deliver on that count. Also, it was very difficult to take William Sadler seriously as the menacing presence in Connelly's life. The story is very simple and the pacing is way off. This is easily 20-30 minutes too long, and moves pretty slowly in stretches.

If seeing some smokin' hot bodes is enough for you, then you'll definitely enjoy it. Otherwise, there's much better noir out there.

You really know that director Dennis Hopper's THE HOT SPOT is a Noir when, within ten minutes of entering a new town... one that's extremely small and fitfully hot, and in Texas... Don Johnson's so smitten with local blackmailed beauty Jennifer Connelly, he questions her with the kind of irked jealousy a husband would have...

But she's the good girl here, comparably, while buxom-blonde Virginia Madsen's our sultry femme fatale... married to Johnson's wealthy used car lot boss... as quickly taken with old Don as he was with young Connelly, and, within moments, they're sharing not only heated chemistry but explosive sack time...

The problems start when the ultra-atmospheric HOT SPOT becomes a thriller's BULL DURHAM with too many intrusive, overlong sex scenes that Hopper's obviously trying to push an envelope with... one that needed more of what makes the movie intriguing in the first place, like the opening when smooth-talker Johnson creatively lands his job...

Or as he's wandering around town or chatting with his co-worker or dealing with a local lowlife, or pulling-off the inevitable anti-heist bank-heist while the sensuously slowburn relationship with Connelly not only takes up most of the screen time, it robs poor Virginia's ability to compete or contrast: For if Jennifer were a devil in angel's clothes instead of the girl-next-door, she'd have easily taken both female roles.

Reformed rebel director Dennis Hopper's neo-noir thriller is something of an anachronism: a fairly typical example of the genre updated with oral sex and graphic gunshot wounds. Heartthrob Don Johnson plays the usual drifter, wandering into a small Texas town and finding himself pulled in one direction by the lovely Jennifer Connelly and pushed in another by sultry nymphomaniac Virginia Madsen. The script wants to show the age-old conflict between good and evil, but it's a hard sell, especially when even the supposedly virtuous Connelly comes across like a sexpot fashion model. Likewise the entire film adds up to little more than a lot of self-conscious posturing, and with so many plot twists borrowed from so many other (better) film noirs this example limps on at least twenty minutes too long before the anti-climactic ending.

(1990) The Hot Spot CRIME DRAMA

Adapted from the book by Charles Williams that has Harry Madox (Don Johnson) imposing himself for a job as an used car salesman while in a small Texas town. And as soon as he is hired, it is not long before he imposes himself onto the bosses wife, Dolly Harshaw (Virginia Madsen). Harry also has a complicated relationship with the secretary, Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly) in regards to repossessing another vehicle from a guy named Frank Sutton (William Sadler) who appear to be able to get away from paying his debts. After he finds out the workers who work at the city bank also happen to be volunteer fire fighters may have gave him a good idea to rob the city bank, he decides to exploit the situation by doing just that. Except that after using the next fire as a diversion to rob the bank their were witnesses, one of them being Dolly who wants him to murder her husband. Complicating matters is the fact that Frank may have lewd humiliating photos of 18 years old turning 19 Gloria and is blackmailing her.

Directed by known actor Dennis Hopper who was given credit for directing Easy Rider he has decided to step his toes into directing noir, except that many of the scenarios happened during the day time. Both Virginia Madson and Jennifer Connelly are sexy as ever and the acting is solid, the movie is just long with some unsatisfying results.

Despite plenty of sunshine and the presence of 80's stalwart Don Johnson, this is quintessential film noir, a little gem that reeks of Stanwyck and Mitchum and ripples with pithy one-liners, nicely convoluted plot twists and a classic moral triangle.

All the leads deliver knowing and unhurried performances, aided by a lean, laconic script and smooth direction - Jennifer Connelly is the astonishingly beautiful innocent, gradually bring dragged into a corrupt world ; Virginia Madsen simmers perfectly as the amoral and predatory manipulator ; and Don Johnson brings style and swagger to the central role, the cynical opportunist who finds a moral redemption of sorts, an outsider who finds himself both player and played in a seedy small-town intrigue.

Like all the best noir, Hot Spot starts with the implicit assumption that the audience is grown-up and able to appreciate subtlety and inference, and this understated adherence to story and character is a long way from the referential post-modernism of Tarantino. And while it probably lacks some of Tarantino's flash and bravado, the dialogue drips with innuendo and irony, and I challenge anyone not to get caught up in both the ingenious narrative and the sheer enjoyment of the supporting cast, who provide plenty of visual and verbal humour. The silences and raised eyebrows at various points are a delight, we can work out the meanings for ourselves (and it's nice to be trusted to do that), and I don't think Don Johnson has been better before and or since.

If you are looking for a Scorsese/Coppola-style gangster film, or an intricate ensemble piece with plenty of shooting like The Usual Suspects or Reservoir Dogs, this might not be your bag. If you think Sin City was at all challenging or subtle (or in fact that it genuinely qualifies as film noir) it's not for you either. But if your taste runs to Double Indemnity, The Big Heat or Out Of The Past, I can almost certainly guarantee that - like me - you will find The Hot Spot deeply satisfying, a storytelling treat that exemplifies the best of the genre and, unlike most of its late 80's/early 90's contemporaries, easily stands the test of time.

I love this movie. The plot is great. The characters are great. The cinematography is great. The Music is great. The ending is great. Dennis Hopper should direct more movies. This film drags you in and doesn't let go. Great character arcs. Don Johnson does a fine job of playing the drifter. His character really develops over the course of the movie and you see his many different sides. Virginia Madsen is also excellent as the "Hell Hath No Fury" character. Last but not least Jennifer Connelly is perfect. Perfect. I bought this film and am considering the sound track purchase as well. Give it a chance, you won't be disappointed. Also check out David Lynch's "Wild At Heart" Same class.

Happy Viewing!

This was an average movie without Jennifer Connelly. But her presence made it a 7 for me. Story was nice and very well directed as well. considering it below average will surely be unfair. The innocence and unbearable beauty of young Jennifer made it a very special one. Believe me she is looking hell gorgeous in this movie. The way she speaks, walks and smiles in the hot spot she will never again. When i planned to watch this the only reason was Jennifer and Jennifer did not disappointed me either.

If you are a fan of Jennifer this is a piece of paradise for you, and if you are not a fan of her i bet you will after watching this. 7 out of 10 from me to movie and 11 out of 10 to Jennifer.

Dennis Hopper delivers the goods in this meticulously conventional tale of a charismatic underachiever finding his level. Harkening back to the gender and class warfare sensibilities of the Forties, The Hot Spot excels across the board, in acting, dialogue, plotting, music, and cinematography.

Stylish and well executed with a well done soundtrack. The film captures well the feel of a small town in the south of the US where the boredom of various characters leads to destructive ends as if the very heat itself drives the characters into temptation. The lighting and tone of this film were just as it needed to be and Jon Johnson was perfectly cast. The film is also loaded with tension, Jennifer Connelly shows she is very much a grown up now. The film is also technically very well done with good sound and picture and editing. This isn't a film for kids but very much who won't be interested and it's all too mature for them in other ways.

Often dull, filled with unsympathetic characters and with some rather ludicrous twists along the way, The Hot Spot is a big disappointment. The story revolves around Harry Madox, a mysterious loner who shows up in a small Texas town and immediately gets a job as a car salesman. Before long he's carrying on an affair with the boss' wife while simultaneously falling for the beautiful young woman who works at the car dealership. In his spare time he robs a bank and despite the fact he'll be the obvious suspect he doesn't immediately leave town. Smart enough to rob a bank, not smart enough to leave afterwards. That's just the first of what will soon be many annoying and unbelievable plot contrivances. So our "hero" is soon arrested but then freed for no good reason. And then things devolve even further as Madox, the two women in his life and a slimy deadbeat who lives on the outskirts of town all become tangled up in a big web of nonsense. The whole thing strains credulity and it's rather boring to boot.

Playing Madox, Don Johnson gives a rather wooden performance. As the young, seemingly innocent woman whom Madox falls for Jennifer Connelly is not bad but not great either. It is obvious that as an actress she had not quite honed her craft just yet. The character of the deadbeat is a bizarre one and playing the role William Sadler comes off as almost laughable when he's supposed to be mysterious and menacing. Probably the best performance comes from Virginia Madsen as the scheming, unfaithful wife but her character is so unsympathetic it's hard to fully appreciate Madsen's work. And there's really not much else to appreciate. The plot is weak, uninteresting and at times unbelievable. The film moves so slowly at times it seems to come to a dead stop. The lead characters are, Connelly's role excepted, entirely unsympathetic. There is nothing to hold the interest and the whole thing leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Disappointing all around.

This movie is just wonderful. The direction by Hopper is top shelf and the sound track, wow! Don Johnson is excellent (believe it or not!) as the cool guy, passing through town who later decides he can easily pull off a clever bank robbery in the face of this backwards, sleepy town. Only problem is, he can't help but get tangled up in the bizarre, twisted lives of some of the town's ladies. Virginia Madsen gives an incredibly sexy performance and Jennifer Connelly lights up the screen with her exotic beauty. I can't stress enough how well made this movie is and how damn terrific the sound track is, featuring some great blues artists and also Miles Davis (one of the last recordings he worked on I believe).

Please see this movie.

A while back, I commented on this film, only to later delete my comment out of frustration, because of a certain cast member's performance.

I am therefore very glad to come back and have another opportunity to express myself.

To begin with, I still think Virginia Madsen was miscast in the role of Dolly Harshaw, but I must concede that her performance was not as disturbing as I first thought.

Of course, in 1990, this movie did push the envelope regarding sensuality, but today it seems to be rather tame, that is when you compare similar movies being made.

My problem is that while Virginia did force up the thermostat, you could tell she was still new to the role of 'femme-fatale' and her body language gave away a great deal of unease.

She recently said that she would want to play such a role again if the script was right, and I am willing to agree with her especially since she is older and wiser... and SEXIER.

But, clearly she was not up to par here.

As to the rest of the movie, this is CLASSIC FILM-NOIR !!!! However, I think it would have played better in another Southern location, like Georgia or Louisiana; someplace HUMID !!! But, from what we have here, it is a surprisingly good story.

Don Johson has a chance to knock off the local bank, as well as TWO pieces of hot local talent; one of them his boss's wife.

HOW AUDACIOUS !!! And between the innocence of Jennifer Conolley and the sexiness of Virginia Madsen to turn his head, it is no wonder what happens in the end.

But you will find that out !!!! Depending on your point of view, it is too bad that this movie didn't get more notice in general release, but from the way the members of the cast made out, WHO CARES !!!!

THE HOT SPOT seems to take place in a town of whatever size is convenient at the moment. The town is so small that the volunteer firefighting force can't be mustered without leaving the bank unstaffed, but it's big enough to support a spacious strip joint with girls on four platforms at a time. The used car lot seems to need only one salesman, the boss, and a clerk, but it supports the boss and his wife in an enormous mansion. Oh yes, someone mentions that he's also in real estate. I wonder who his buyers are. The production looks as if it couldn't even afford enough extras to give the impression of a populace.

A bigger problem, though, is the lead actors. It's hard to identify with Don Johnson in a part that should have gone to Dennis Hopper himself if only Hopper were younger. Hopper can draw our sympathy or fascination by giving his character a look of underlying fear or insanity. Don Johnson just looks smug, and so does Virginia Madsden.

The best thing is the soundtrack, matching the minimalism of John Lee Hooker with the minimalism of Miles Davis. There were more black people on the soundtrack, by the way, than in the cast.