THE CRUSH
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Date Released: 4/2/93 Running Length: 1:29 Rated: R (Language, sexual situations, violence, brief nudity)
Starring: Cary Elwes, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Rubin,
Kurtwood Smith
Director: Alan Shapiro
Producer: James G. Robinson
Screenplay: Alan Shapiro
Music: Graeme Revell
Released by Warner Brothers
Nick (Cary Elwes), a journalist for a trendy magazine, is looking for a nice, quiet place to live. He finds one in the guest house owned by the parents of a precocious 14-year old girl named Darian (Alicia Silverstone). Darian and Nick quickly strike up a friendship, but sexual tension soon intrudes. Nick, determined to do the right thing, rebuffs Darian's none-too-subtle advances. Frustrated and jealous, however, Darian makes it plain that she won't take "no" for an answer.
It's not unusual for a young girl to fall for an older man. It happens all the time. Most girls in that situation are content with an occasional smile and a few kind words from the object of their affection. They recognize that any hope of a real relationship is exceedingly slim (at best) and are content to let things deepen only in the realm of fantasy. Not so for Darian in THE CRUSH. Her unnatural obsession drives her to extraordinary--and unbelievable--lengths. She kisses Nick, taunts and teases him, seductively strips in front of him, steals his used condoms from the garbage, and tries to kill his girlfriend. And that's only for a warm-up....
THE CRUSH is saddled with one of the more improbable and laughably absurd scripts to come along this year. At every possible opportunity--and those come along with alarming frequency--it insults the audience's intelligence. The story not only relies on the complete and unalterable stupidity of every character in the movie, but on the gullibility of those who watch it.
Movies should be fun, but the source of entertainment shouldn't come from identifying plot holes and other assorted implausibilities. I went into THE CRUSH expecting the umpteenth clone of FATAL ATTRACTION--a movie that I consider to be of marginal, but not exceptional, quality. But to compare this effort the 1987 thriller would do FATAL ATTRACTION a tremendous injustice. When it comes to tension, plotting, acting, and characterization, THE CRUSH is nowhere close to the same level. This is an irredeemably bad movie.
There aren't any big-name actors in the cast of THE CRUSH. Not a surprise--anyone valuing their reputation would have headed away at top speed after taking a look at the script. Of course, it's sometimes possible for little-known performers to do impressive jobs even with poorly-conceived characters. Not here. The best of a generally-uninspired lot is newcomer Alicia Silverstone. From time to time, she brings glimmers of a character to the screen. Everyone else--especially Cary Elwes with his indecipherable accent--is terrible. Acting lessons would seem to be in order, although I'm sure the director shares a significant part of the blame.
While the material forming the basis for THE CRUSH can't make any claims of originality, there's certainly enough there to craft a decent film around. With a challenging story, a real script, and actors willing to take a few chances, THE CRUSH could have been enjoyable. Essentially, all that would have been required for a success is a complete scrapping of the film that was actually produced. Even lovers of formula thrillers will find this picture a little to hard to swallow.
Rating: 2.0 (F, *)
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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