Jeanskynebu
the audience applauded
Listonixio
Fresh and Exciting
FuzzyTagz
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Nathan Hughes
Dennis Hopper once said 'There are moments that I've had some real brilliance, you know. But I think there are moments. And sometimes, in a career, moments are enough.' and I think he was right and this directorial effort by no other than the easy rider himself is nothing short of excellence. It bears everything required for essential cinema viewing, it casually takes you on a stroll where nothing feels forced, you're not choking down information 10 gigawatts per second, trying remembering inordinate amounts of information. No, It's smarter than that, it's the slow cooked approach from the first scene where the main character is met at a crossroads which I felt is symbolic to the entire movie, a drifter no less forced to wait at a train crossing.
The movie plays out rather seamlessly like you're a fly on the wall, Drifter Madox (Don Johnson) is fuelled by what fuels most men and as easy as women comes to Madox so does getting into trouble which almost feels like both his gift and curse. He get's a job quite quickly with some agitation/ harm but things start to snowball for him quite quickly for a man only new to town.
Great performances from Virginia Madsen as Dolly Harshaw who is perfect as the rich spoiled wife who wants everything and usually gets everything she wants except in this case Madox- and Jennifer Connelly as Gloria Harper is beyond comprehension ( you need to see to believe ) and honestly it's something to seen and don't forget the scene where Madox (Johnson) asks unnervingly beautiful Glora Harper (Connelly) 'Would you like a soda? Yeah, a soda.'
'Do you want a soda?' she replies back.
'Yes I do, yes I do. What would be nicer on a hot afternoon, than a tall, clean, cool, soda.' and for a minute there I thought he was talking about a cool beverage but the essential lesson I derived from this film is when air is thick with temptation take a cold bath and blow a few bubbles because selfish desire and temptation isn't always a good idea - it's almost always bad.
RavenGlamDVDCollector
Actually, the movie itself wouldn't have gotten such a high score from me, but it introduced me to pretty Jennifer Connelly back in the day. Tonight, years and years later, decades actually, the movie in my DVD player is CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, and I fondly remember this other 'old' (hey, it's cruising on to almost 27 years ago) movie. Noticed here the well-remembered quote about TV "and not much else but your own devices" in a small town. Fond, fond memories. Yeah, I've got this one in my collection, it was among my early purchases on DVD during the RavenGlamDVDCollector starting years. Currently posting quotes for CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, in-between remembering lines from THE HOT SPOT. After Don Johnson got that kiss from an uncertain Jennifer, the line was something like "That was about as much fun as kissing a fallen down drunk" but right now I can't vouch for the exact words to post the quote.Jennifer, with her long, long hair (I'm a sucker for that) and her cute flower-decorated open-toed summer sandals (sucker for that too!) + all that tension created by Virginia Madsen + ol' Don Johnson was quite great = well, don't expect anything but a corny partly crappy (kidding) thriller, but it had moments, good ones, and I would never forget charming good girl Jennifer Connelly in this one.
Miles burton
The Hot Spot stars Miami Vice legend Don Johnson. Who plays the character of Harry Madox, a country wonderer who comes across a little business involving selling cars. Just on his second day of work he manages to get involved in stealing all the money from the business, and throughout the film people has suspicions that he is the one that caused the great fire in the town as a distraction for the people. On the way, he meets and falls in love with a young Jennifer Connelly (Blood Diamond) who helps him in proving that he is innocent to the police. I thought this film had a great sense of style to it. Don Johnson looks fantastic in it, and his performance was riveting. This film shows that he is more capable than just being a pretty face in Hollywood. The film is directed by Dennis Hopper, an Actor/ Director best known for his role in Tony Scott's 'True Romance' and for directing Robert Duvalle & Sean Penn in 'Colors' (1988)
SnoopyStyle
Drifter Harry Madox (Don Johnson) hustles an used car salesman job from owner George Harshaw in a small desert oasis Texas town. Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly) is the secretary and a damsel in distress paying the lascivious Frank Sutton (William Sadler). George's wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen) is the flirtatious femme fatale who starts an affair with Harry. He sets a fire as a distraction to rob the local bank. He ends up as a hero rescuing a guy from the infernal and Gloria falls for him. The police suspects him as a blind customer fingers him for the robbery but Dolly provides him with a false alibi.Director Dennis Hopper is making a kind of old time pulpy sexy noir thriller. He doesn't really succeed. Johnson and Madsen have those sweaty broad performances. Connelly is absolutely alluring as the ingénue. The slow lethargic pace takes its toll. The atmospheric can only carry it so far.
