INTERSECTION
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1994 Michael John Legeros
Directed by Mark Rydell Starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, and Lolita Davidovich.
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"Don't kid yourself."
- Poster on a bulletin board in Gere's office
The sole virtue of INTERSECTION, the high-profile, low-interest remake of the 1970 French drama LES CHOSE DE LA VIE, is one, bonafide great hook.
Said hook comes at the beginning and it's ripe for the picking: Vancouver architect Vincent Eastman (Gere) is about to have a nasty collision with either a minibus, a logging truck, or both. Mere moments before the impact, Vincent's life flashes before his eyes.
(Which, for the audience, means a flashback that lasts the
*entire* film!)
Unfortunately, what passes for Vincent's life is already dead-on-arrival.
The story goes that Vincent is recently separated from wife and business partner Sally (Stone). He's living with a journalist (Davidovich), but he hasn't resolved his feelings for either woman. He's sitting on the proverbial fence and the film--courtesy of imbedded flashbacks--shows how he got on the fence in the first place.
As accurately as INTERSECTION portrays a man in transition between spouses, the story makes for lousy drama. The characters are unflattering and there's no passion to the proceedings. This is "carpe dullem"--seize the exit!
With such a who-cares story, the only remaining allure is in the window-dressing. But even the bells and whistles get botched in this one.
The British Columbia locales are nice and safe and maybe too clean. The lighting and cinematography is also very pretty, which helps to scrub away any grit from the surface of this story. Coupled to such a too-handsome cast, it's hard to sell this drama as believable.
Of the three leads, only Stone does anything worth watching. She gets a great ice-queen role that may win her notice. Even if her scenes are scarce.
Put it all together and you get a film that seems trapped in a bizarre nether-realm between safe and sorry.
With a little more ham, this could've been a great Bad Movie. A contrived confrontation between Davidovich and Stone already sticks out like a sore thumb. Other close-to-camp moments include Landau's "time is short" speech, an obvious stunt-double wrecking Gere's car, and Davidovich's "delivery" of the Year's Best Breast Joke.
The filmmakers could also have gone the other way. With a little narrative juggling and some clearer characterization, they could've refined this mess into something memorable.
As it stands, it's hardly worth watching.
Bottom line: Other than a great promotional film for highway safety,
INTERSECTION is just another stop on the Road to
Dullsville (pop. 3). Wait 'till video.
Grade: C
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