Noirvember: Black Widow (1987)

It’s a classic premise, a number of men experience a bad case of very sudden and unexpected death not too long after marrying a beautiful bride. The title is the big clue, of course, but nobody seems to think there’s anything worthy of further investigation. Nobody except an agent named Alexandra (Debra Winger). Determined to find the mystery, and possibly very deadly, bride, Alexandra keeps digging around, eventually becoming friends with her prime suspect, Catharine (Theresa Russell).

Directed by Bob Rafelson, who started the ‘80s with a film that was viewed as one of the steamiest erotic thrillers of the era (the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice), Black Widow probably isn’t what you expect it to be. That is not a bad thing. What could have been one of many identi-kit thrillers from the decade ends up, instead, as a fascinating look at female friendship, as well as a character study of a very dangerous, and very cunning, sociopath (although there’s maybe another descriptor tag that fits better, I am not a trained medical professional).

Rafelson directs with his usual level of competence - he’s delivered a number of great movies without ever positioning himself as the defining author of the work, in my experience - and he does well by the script, written by Ron Bass. Characterization is valued above everything else, and having such great leads helps to compensate for the fact that this isn’t just schlocky entertainment with some gratuitous nudity throughout. And, please don’t get me wrong, I sometimes love schlocky entertainment with some gratuitous nudity throughout. This becomes a more interesting, and more rewarding, experience though, and everything is also helped by some great supporting turns.

Terry O’Quinn is a boss who keeps trying to creep over personal space boundaries, and he helps make his character bearable just by being Terry O’Quinn, and James Hong excels as a private contractor investigator who finds himself caught between the two leads. Diane Ladd and Lois Smith have one or two scenes, and the selection of endangered husbands includes Dennis Hopper, Nicol Williamson, and Sami Frey. Everyone is a pawn though, unwittingly caught between an intense and 4-D chess match being played by Alexandra and Catharine, and both Winger and Russell are fantastic in those roles, both developing realistically, whether separately or intertwining their lives together, and impressively staying away from any urge to add too many histrionics and/or knowing camp. Those interpretations could have been fun, but I think what we get here is more interesting because of how relatively low-key it is.

If you’re a fan of either Russell or Winger then you should definitely see this. And why wouldn’t you be a fan of Russell or Winger? The same goes for O’Quinn and Hong. Just remember that this isn’t just a film about a woman who may be killing off her husbands. It’s about friendship, about trust, about people becoming obsessed with something they have a natural talent for. It’s about the idea of how others view your life, whether it is something they covet or something they want you to change. AND it’s about a woman who may be killing off her husbands.

8/10

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Leap Of Faith (1992)

While this isn't the first non-comedic performance from Steve Martin, Leap Of Faith was the first serious film that I saw him in and the first time that I realised there was more to the man than just his wild and crazy comedy. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that a) the film was very good and b) Martin was just as good while not mugging for the laughs.

The film is all about a fake faith healer named Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin), who ends up having to kill time in a small town when one of his vehicles needs repaired. Always one to make the best of a bad situation, Jonas gets his people to set up the tent and start spreading the word. He knows that he can still make a fair bit of money off the locals, it might just take more effort than usual. The people aren't exactly rolling in money or good luck, as the local Sheriff (Liam Neeson) emphasises to Jonas and his colleague, Jane Larson (Debra Winger). As Jonas starts to work from his usual bag of tricks things start to happen that may prove that the trickster is being tricked or, even worse, that he's about to meet a "genuine article."

Directed by Richard Pearce and written by Janus Cercone, Leap Of Faith is solid when it comes to both the script and execution of the material, but Martin is the big draw. During the opening sequence of the film, showing his character attempting to avoid a ticket being issued (by an officer played by Troy Evans), things are not that impressive. It quickly establishes the main character and the mood of the whole thing, but Martin doesn't seem to be right for the role. That all changes, however, when he gets onto the main stage and starts working a big crowd. He slips on his role like a bright suit, dancing and shouting, responding to information being fed to him via earpiece, tricking people into thinking that he can be the person to save them from their troubles. It's grandstanding theatrics and Martin does it with the air of the assured performer that he is.

The rest of the cast give him great support, especially Winger as the number two of the operation. Meat Loaf, M. C. Gainey and Philip Seymour Hoffman have small roles as part of the crew, and do well enough, while Lolita Davidovich is a good antidote to all of the "suckers" as a local cynic just wanting to keep her crippled brother (Lukas Haas) away from anything that can grind down his spirit. Liam Neeson is sweet and swoonsome, judging by the reaction of some females, in the role of Will Braverman, the unsubtly-monikered Sheriff doing his best for the people in his town.

Leap Of Faith walks a nice path through a very grey area. It doesn't make any big assumptions about religion and people who choose to live their lives by faith, it doesn't even paint Nightengale and his crew as outright baddies. What it does is pose the interesting question: "if a fraud can make enough impact on people to create some positive change then does that mean that they're no longer a fraud, or does it even matter as long as the desired outcome is achieved?"

Jonas Nightengale admits that he's not the real deal, but he argues that he puts on a good show. A show that people can choose to pay for or not.

Leap Of Faith isn't unmissable, but it tries most of the time to put on a good show. I think it succeeds.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leap-Faith-DVD-Steve-Martin/dp/B0002GZACU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1374755327&sr=8-3&keywords=leap+of+faith