Review of Fatal Attraction (1987) by Keenan S — 06 Jun 2015

For all the church sermons, counselor warnings, and everything in between about the discussions about why adultery is a bad idea, nothing has ever explored why it is such a bad idea like Fatal Attraction - a gripping, thrilling, suspenseful, sexy, and frightening erotic thriller that scared men shitless for years after its release. Then again, after watching Fatal Attraction, who wouldn't be terrified about having an affair? It's fucking scary! Sensationalist, yes. But, that doesn't deter it from being any less frightening.

Dan Gallagher is a successful attorney living in Manhattan with a loving wife and child. Things are very solid in life and doesn't really seem to have anything to complain about. But things take an unexpected turn for Dan when he meets an editor at a publishing company named Alex, whom he finds rather attractive and the two seem to have rather solid chemistry even upon their first meeting.

When his wife and daughter leave town for the weekend to stay with relatives, Dan makes the fateful decision to have a one-night stand with Alex. The one-night was certainly pleasurable, and the two part ways on a semi-amicable level, with Dan expecting Alex to be understanding that was only a simple fling for the weekend.

Soon, he realizes that Alex is becoming rather clingy, and after several phone calls and demands to see him again, Dan gives in and has another one-night stand with her, only this time trying to break it off between them afterward. Though disheartened, she seems to agree with him, until he tries to leave her apartment and she appears to him crying and with her wrists slashed in a suicide attempt. He bandages her wrists and seems to calm her down, hoping that it will now be over with.

But soon Dan realizes that she is certainly not done with him and has now become obsessed with him. First it begins with dozens upon dozens of phone calls, showing up to see him, and then it escalates through vandalizing his car and then starting to stalk his family.

As she escalates, Dan tries desperately to keep the situation under control and not let his wife find out, but he soon comes to realize that situation is becoming too dangerous as the lives of his wife and daughter and threatened and he has few sources to turn to solve his problem (As this was the 80's - a time before many states had any semblance of stalking laws).

The story, though simple, is extremely engaging. It's a cautionary tale about the dangers of not just adultery, but also about getting involved with someone you know nothing about. Human nature is very unpredictable, and a film like Fatal Attraction certainly highlights this fact. It's also an interesting film because at its time, very few states had anything about stalking laws, or if they did, they were bare-bones at best. So, there's a real sense of helplessness as Dan tries desperately to search for ways to handle this issue.

Of course, what makes this film also so harrowing is the character Alex and how she escalates in her behavior to at first get back with Dan and then does everything in her power to destroy him and his family through the classic method of, "If I can't have you, nobody can." Her descent into madness and obsession is what makes the story so harrowing and believable at the same time.

The story is also engaging in how it explores Dan and how his family is thrown into this dangerous scenario and how their happy lives are suddenly torn apart, but how they try to remain strong through these events. Surprisingly, it works on a level about showing how people can survive such things, despite the downer mood of the film most of the time.

The acting is top-notch across the board, especially Glenn Close's performance as Alex. She is absolutely frightening in the same way Anthony Perkins was as Norman Bates in Psycho, and much like the Norman Bates character, she seems personable and friendly at first, before revealing the true depths of herself. There are good reasons why Glenn Close has been approached over the years by random men on the street who have told her that her performance in this film has both scared the shit out of them and also saved their marriages. She's that damn good and that menacing in her performance.

Michael Douglas does a fantastic job as Dan and also manages to show a tremendous amount of dramatic depth to his performance in this film as a man who makes a mistake in a moment of weakness that threatens to cost him everything, and how he tries to save his family from his costly mistake. This is certainly one of his more memorable performances (Though I also enjoyed him in films like Traffic, Basic Instinct, and Disclosure). Despite his mistake, he makes himself surprisingly sympathetic as well. He is a flawed character, but also a very likable one.

Like any really good thriller, this one takes its time before truly exploding. What starts off as a couple of pleasurable one-night stands becomes a thrilling and suspenseful descent into madness and unknown dangers. Fatal Attraction does a great job at showing the escalation in Alex's behavior and watching Dan's family life start to collapse. There were certainly a number of points that had me on the edge of my seat, scared me, thrilled me, and everything in between because it is so expertly crafted. The suspense was hair-raising and chilled me, and refused to let go until the harrowing finale. It's a hell of a ride that packs a mean punch.

Fatal Attraction is a superb thriller that still holds up tremendously well. It works harmoniously as both a trashy erotic thriller and also as a harrowing and suspenseful thriller about obsession. It's thrilling, scary, suspenseful, harrowing, and sexy all at the same time. If you love a good thriller, Fatal Attraction is a must-see.