HEXED
A film review by Andrew Hall
Copyright 1993 Andrew Hall
Whew! What a weak selection of movies there was this weekend. After suffering through BODY OF EVIDENCE last week, I decided to take a break from "erotic" thrillers for a while - maybe forever. And LORENZO's OIL seemed like too much of a tear-jerker (plus, I had just seen Nick Nolte in CAPE FEAR on video). So I opted instead for what threatened to be a stupid comedy.
What the heck, I thought, take a little risk.
Nonetheless, since I expected little, I was pleasantly surprised by Alan Spencer's new film, HEXED. The film stars Arye Gross, Claudia Cristian, and Adrienne Shelly. Norman Fell (Mr. Roper on THREE'S COMPANY) has a bit role as a hotel manager. Spencer also wrote the script.
The story concerns Matthew (Gross), a career hotel clerk who escapes his dull life by pretending to be glamorous, successful men. Instead of dating his cute co-worker Gloria (Shelly), Matthew would rather dazzle other women with his BS. Yet his co-workers constantly remind him of his meager life.
When they mock him for claiming to know European supermodel Hexina (Cristian), a guest at the hotel, Matthew is determined to prove he does by impersonating a man Hexina is supposed to meet. He succeeds beyond his wildest dreams, and he takes Hexina back to his place, where she turns out to be a wildwoman. Unfortunately, she's perhaps a bit too wild, and she soon embroils Matthew in a blackmail-murder plot.
As a whole, the movie doesn't quite jell. The pieces are better than the sum of the parts. But there are lots of great lines, silly gags, and slapstick falls. Spencer pokes fun at everything from models to police to horror films. I liked the right-wing detective and cop who gives fashion tips. Another cute bit was the nod to Hitchcock's VERTIGO, which also appeared in the trailer.
A few of the jokes of questionable taste. For example, there's the mocking of the Rodney King beating. I found it darkly funny, but some people might be offended. And people *die* in this "comedy," so the comedy is a little black at times.
Perhaps the funniest part of the film was the sex scene between Hexina and Matthew. This is one of the goofiest love scenes I've ever seen (right up there with Leslie Nielson and Priscilla Presley in THE NAKED GUN). The audience was just dying.
Cristian does a hilarious send-up of a glamorous model gone mad, but Gross can't quite carry the film as the comic lead. Still, Alan Spencer shows promise as a filmmaker (his first film, I believe). I hope he gets the chance to make more films, though, because HEXED probably won't make any money. I doubt it will be at the box office long.
At least HEXED fulfills the basic rule of a comedy: it makes you laugh. So if you're tired of Madonna and Nick Nolte and you're in the mood for a little silliness, go for it. Just don't expect the comic masterpiece of the decade.
- Andrew Hall
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