SINGLE WHITE FEMALE
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
110 min., R, Suspense, 1992 Director: Barbet Schroeder Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bridget Fonda, Steven Weber, Peter Friedman, Stephen Tobolowski
Bridget Fonda catches her fiance Steven Weber cheating on her with his ex-wife and kicks him out of her house. To avoid being lonely, she puts an advertisement for a roommate in the paper. Fonda picks Jennifer Jason Leigh, a seemingly quiet girl, to be her new roommate. Fonda finds out later on that Leigh might not be the person that Fonda thought Leigh was.
This is a great suspense film that is definitely worth the ticket price. The one major problem with the film is that it seems to be a rip off of THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE. It just seems to me that the plots are relatively close and that maybe somebody should have tried to make this film a little more original. Both films have a psychopathic girl who is trying to take control of the people in their lives (for different reasons) and are willing to kill to get what they want. Then again, this is the basic plot line for all the movies in this genre. SINGLE WHITE FEMALE is rated R for female nudity, adult situations, violence, and explicit language. On a scale of zero to five, I give SINGLE WHITE FEMALE a five.
The film moves along smoothly as it progresses. It doesn't suddenly jerk into a new situation. It slowly builds to it, which adds suspense. I feel that anybody who enjoyed THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE will most likely enjoy this film. The actresses are great. Jennifer Jason Leigh has definitely raised herself above the FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH level with her current films, RUSH, LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN, and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE. Bridget Fonda, the daughter of Jane Fonda I believe, also does a great job. The only male in this film that I think gives a great performance is Stephen Tobolowski, who plays Fonda's scummy boss. The other two males, Steven Weber, and Peter Friedman who plays Fonda's good friend, both did passable performances. Fortunately their poor performances didn't hurt the film too much and the film is still great to watch.
There isn't really too much to say about this film, other than the fact that it is a great film and I highly recommend that you don't miss it. I think the film will be much more spectacular on the big screen than on video tape, so I suggest going to the theater to see it if possible.
Ken J. blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu
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