Fairly Entertaining
Added 8/9/2009
I received this movie by mistake from Netflix, and decided to watch it rather than send it back, since I vaguely remembered liking it when I first watched it many years ago, after it was first released. I found that the movie didn't have the same impact on me as when I first watched it, probably for the obvious reason that this was my second viewing, but I still enjoyed it.
The action takes place in a small, sleepy, hot town in the southern US. A smoldering sexual tension is established quickly in the movie and persists to the last moment. The female side of this equation comes from two women who are seductively easy on the eyes, yet also opposites in the sense that one of them embodies virginal innocence while the other embodies a raw calculating sluttiness. On the male side, casting Don Johnson works perfectly, given his natural brand of virile and confident masculinity. His character can be criminally devious and manipulative, tough enough to fearlessly brawl (and win), and the ladies from all walks of life are apparently drawn to him. Yet one also glimpses that there's some decency in him wanting to prevail, and the resulting inner tension is especially revealed by his simultaneous attraction to both women and how he tries to resolve that situation.
This movie is no masterpiece, and has no intellectual pretensions, but I still found it entertaining. Moreover, the scenery and some of the characters are surreal in a way that you might find interesting and memorable. The bottom line is that I don't regret having spent a couple of hours watching this movie.
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Steamy film noir
Added 7/3/2009
The hot shot (not to be confused with the hot spot, which is located...well, on the person of Dolly Harshaw, as you'll see) is Harry Madox (Don Johnson) who has just arrived in Podunk, Texas. What he's hot about is selling used cars and bedding floosies. He scans the small town scene to see what's available. He's a hunk with a gift of the macho and an ability to move clunkers off the lot. What he finds is the used car lot of George Harshaw (Jerry Hardin) in need of a salesman. George has a bad heart and a young and sexy wife, the aforementioned Dolly Harshaw (Virginia Madsen, who once played in a movie called "Zombie High" or "The High School that Ate My Brain"--you gotta love either title). She's a woman who always gets what she wants, and once she sets her rapacious eyes on Harry, Harry is what she wants.
Harry has other plans however. There's this bank in town that he just happens into as there's a fire going down the street. The bank is wide open and there's nobody there but this blind old black guy and the bank manager. Seems that the surveillance system isn't working and what's more all the tellers are off fighting the fire because they all belong to the volunteer fire department. This gives Harry ideas.
One more complication. Doing the books for George is Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly at 19) looking about as tasty as pie a la mode and as ripe as a peach about to fall off the tree. Harry soon discovers that she is as sweet as Tupelo honey and nearly as innocent as a small town girl can be with one strange problem. It seems that a country degenerate named Frank Sutton (William Sadler) has got some kind of hold on her.
So what we have here is a setting for film noir circa 1990 done up in color with a lot of upper body and tail end nudity and plenty of steamy sex. Will Harry pull off the bank job and retire to the Caribbean? Or will he put on George's shoes and service the very serviceable Mrs. H? Or will he succumb to the charms of Gloria? Or will he end up afoul of the local law or meet foul play at the hands of Frank Sutton? Stay tuned. I know I did even though this is not exactly a masterpiece.
Top three reasons to see this diversion are:
(1) Virginia Madsen, who is as hot as the barrel of an AK-47 as it unloads with a mind devious enough to delight the devil himself.
(2) Jennifer Connelly, who is pretty enough to awaken the libido of the dead.
(3) The nice twist at the end in which we learn that life has a certain perverse logic to it, proving that the hero may not get what he wants, but hey, things could be worse.
I guess I should also mention the direction of Dennis Hopper who has garnered over 200 film credits in a career going back to the fifties. Can you believe he played in the classic teen angst film Rebel Without a Cause from 1955? Here he just panders shamelessly to the prurient interest of the audience while moving the action along at a spritely pace.
One problem for today's sophisticated viewer: beware of being overcome with a constant stream of cigarette smoke. I mean, did the tobacco industry front the cash for this?
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A hot spot
Added 11/28/2008
The special slow pace is a remarkable feature of this movie, generating an intense suspence which actually leads to some pretty dramatic events, not suitable for every one's taste.
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Better than some
Added 10/13/2008
Harry arrrives in a sultry Texas town, & starts right up as a car salesman. There is the slutty wife of the owner, and a cute young thing, connelly. See Don fight off the wife.
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A hotter spot!
Added 6/9/2008
A loner (Johnson) drives into a small Texas town and gets himself a job at a used car dealership. He gets an idea for robbing a small local bank after he tries to open a new bank account at the same time a fire occurs nearby. The bank was left open while all of the employees went to fight the fire. The manipulative boss' wife (Madsen) wishes to use him for her own purposes - "I always get what I want, Harry". He resists, however, as he finds himself falling in love with the accountant (Connelly) at work, who has her own problem to work out. Written by Ed Sutton {esutton@mindspring.com}
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