BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Opinion02122 The outline for this movie is almost a duplicate of Play Misty for Me. It starts with a one night stand with no strings attached, and turned into the same Fatal Attraction, even down to the crazed girl coming face to face with the real love of the male's life and the attack. The differences are there, too. The male in this case is married, while the other is just trying for a committed relationship. They have different jobs, live on the opposite coast, etc. This movie was MUCH better done than Play Misty, and they are many years apart so most people probably don't even see the similarities.

calvinnme ... so says Tom Hanks in 1993's "Sleepless in Seattle" to his son in reference to this movie and comparing its outcome to a strange woman who has been writing the widower (Hanks) as a result of him appearing on a radio show. But that's another movie.The point is, its lesson was still easily recognizable in popular culture six years after it was made. What looks like an easy lay with a beautiful single woman can easily turn into an object lesson on Murphy's law. Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a successful NYC attorney, and on a weekend when his wife and daughter are away from home at his in-laws' house, he has a work meeting that includes Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), an editor for a publishing company. This leads to a drink at a bar, and that leads to a passionate one night stand that turns into a two night stand when Alex attempts suicide when Dan tries to leave.Dan thinks it's over. Alex has seemed to come to her senses. But then she tells him she is pregnant, and no she is having this baby because she is 36 and it may be her last chance. When Dan insists he is not leaving his wife for her, that he does not love her - well, let's just say that the opposite of love is not hate it's indifference, and Alex at first stalks Dan and gradually turns up the heat until his entire family is at risk. The suspense builds until the harrowing end.The thing is, Dan always loved his wife, subtly played by Ann Archer. She is beautiful, supportive, and he still has passion for her. They have a little girl and are a very happy family. But he just could not say no to what looked like a one night adventure that nobody need ever know about that turns into a nightmare.There is more to the film than the cautionary "Don't cheat on your wife" message. I think it's because Glenn Close does such a fantastic job playing Alex. There's something about her portrayal that, to me, paints Alex as ultimately powerful, not just outright insane. Until the end she mostly dominates what happens to Michael Douglas' character's life. I think this one has aged well and would still recommend it.

deickos Watching this movie always feels like a documentary explaining laws of nature. It is a surprise for me how things in real world do not end like that. I don't feel the Glenn Close character is the villain but the victim. I don't see this movie as a thriller but as something 99% possible and probable.

jadavix "Fatal Attraction" is a fairly humdrum thriller enlivened by Glenn Close's performance as the villain.Its plot is one we've all seen before: married man has an affair with the wrong woman who turns out to be a psycho. He can't ditch her immediately because she might tell his wife, see, so the movie grows out of this trite situation.It also really avoids any real tension. You've probably already heard of the famous "bunny boiler" moment. This is actually also pretty trite: animals are always harmed in thrillers as a way to show the villain's increasing capacity for violence. I guess it must have been a shocking moment back in '87, because everybody seems to remember it, but now it's tired.The movie lacks scares, which is either because the filmmaker wasn't capable of providing them, or because he knew that Close could do it through her performance alone.I'm not the first to ask this, but what was it with Michael Douglas and attracting dangerous hotties? Glenn Close, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone. Was he that attractive?