Diabolique séduction

I bought this today in a previously enjoyed bin at Blockbuster. It set me back five bucks, so I figured since I like Alicia, this would be worthwhile for my guilty pleasure collection I've been building up over the years (Included in that collection is Excess Baggage, the film that made me get a huge crush on Alicia). Considering the money spent, this is great popcorn. When buying this I expected a pseudo update of Fatal Attraction, which in so many words, was. (spare me if I offend some for making that comparison) The Crush is a campy, but dark story. Alicia plays a very convincing 14 year old obsessive compulsive psychopathic teenager who is experiencing love. I really thought she did well, I know she has limitations - but it's a totally unbiased opinion. You'd never expect the girl from Clueless to say such lines like "Hey Nick, ever do a virgin?" - She portrays this very sexual presence, which works.

My problem with the film is I guess I've sort of marked myself as a fan of the Alicia who plays sweet characters, so it's kind of a knock back. Other than that - If not taken seriously it would make a good film to throw on if you like Alicia, if not, could still be a decent thriller movie to watch with a couple beers or if you just want to throw on a guilty pleasure. It's campy, it's got some corn, but you gotta love it sometimes.

The Crush is about a 28 year old journalist named Nick Elliot. He rents a guesthouse and befriends the landlady's beautiful 14 year old daughter Adrian (Alicia Silverstone). Adrian seems lonely, so Nick starts spending a little time with her and he gets to know her better. Nick just sees Adrian as a friend, but Adrian starts obsessing over him and she wants to be more then just friends, much more. And if Adrian can't have Nick, then no one can.. I enjoyed this movie, all the actors did a fine job. I would give The Crush 8/10

It's very hard to understand why this movie is rated so low. I really enjoyed watching this film, which was Silverstone's first major role. She plays a crazy teenager who has a crush on a guy who lives in a guesthouse. In her selfish pursuit of the object of her affection, she makes the guy's life a living hell. She also makes the life miserable for anyone who tries to "steal" the guy from her. I think Silverstone fit her role perfectly. The plot was very good as well, and I was always wondering what Silversone's character (Alicia) would do next. This movie gets a solid 8 from me.

This sexy thriller is very much entertaining for the *wrong* reasons. It's absurd, trashy, and utterly laughable. It does have a memorable antagonist in the form of young Alicia Silverstone, who plays Adrian Forrester, a Lolita-ish 14-year-old who develops a serious crush on Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes), the 20-something journalist renting a guest house from her parents (Kurtwood Smith, Gwynyth Walsh). Of course, nobody believes the older man when he protests that the crazed girl is the wrongdoer, and Nick finds his life continuously going awry as she creates one problem after another.

Written and directed by Alan Shapiro, this film doesn't exactly have the brightest characters. As a result, you never really root for Nick. Fortunately Silverstone, who'd previously made her name in Aerosmith rock videos, is a total hoot as this deranged gal who does some pretty nasty things to make her crush look bad. And things do indeed look very bad for Nick when she frames him for sexual assault. Elwes does what he can with his obtuse role, while Smith has some choice moments as the dad. Jennifer Rubin looks quite lovely as the photographer whom we know is more appropriate for Nick. And Amber Benson lends some solid support as Adrians' "friend" who tries to warn Nick about what she knows.

The movie *is* well paced and climaxes in one of the more priceless confrontation scenes that you're likely to see in this sort of thing. The ending is actually rather effective in its payoff of the Adrian character.

Silverstone may well have had a body double for the nude scenes, but it's still quite uncomfortable when remembering that the character being watched is a mere 14 years old.

All in all, "The Crush" is entertaining if exploitative trash, and should never ever be taken too seriously.

Seven out of 10.

This felt inspired by "Lolita" yet lacking all the finesse of the original. Yet this was the film that launched Alicia Silverstone into those Aerosmith music videos and into more movies as this was her debut. She did a solid job acting and displayed a range of believable emotions. The movie is about a journalist who rents an over the garage room from a family who has a 14-year-old daughter. The poor guy just wants to write but this girl keeps grabbing his attention. He tries to avoid an underage entanglement but he's ensnared by a kiss which she uses as leverage to torment him until he succumbs to her romantic desires. Who will have the upper hand and how intense will her tormenting go? This is a decent movie yet left room for cinematic improvement.