Caught (1996)
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
CAUGHT is a powerful character study and devastating love triangle. Although the title of the picture is an obvious giveaway for the ending, it doesn't matter. This is no mystery; the revelations are of the spirit and not of some artificial turn of an overly clever suspense plot.
Filmed in a tough area of Jersey City, CAUGHT is the cautionary tale of two people who invite a stranger into their lives and thereby transform their lives forever. Simple and hard working Joe (Edward James Olmos) is the owner of Joe's fish store. He brags that he was once known as "the fastest knife in the West" for his deboning skills. He is still so confident that he will give any customer who finds a bone in his fish, "their money back plus a quarter."
His wife Betty (Maria Conchita Alonso), who answer's the phone as "Mrs. Joe," is proud of her husband. She says, "Fish are his life." But he puts it more succinctly, "Fish been very, very good to me." Although happy, she has aspirations, "I want to go places." In part put-down and part realism, he retorts, "You want to go places? Get up at 5:00AM, I'll take you to Fulton's Fish Market."
Into their busy and unassuming life, comes a young man in his twenties named Nick (Arie Verveen). He is about the same age as their son Danny (Steve Schub) who has gone to Hollywood to seek his fortune as a standup comedian. When Nick arrives out of breath and starving at their shop, they invite him to stay at their house, and they soon give him a job as well. Yes, this is a show that strains credulity every now and then, but the emotions are real and the scenes so natural you will have no problem suspending disbelief.
The unglamorous cinematography by Michael F. Barrow is as carefully constructed and important as the antonymic lush work of John Toll in LEGENDS OF THE FALL. Look how shiny the grease reflects off of Nick's chin at dinner making him look especially crude. Every line in Betty's naked body is highlighted when she makes love to remind us of her age. As Joe is cutting fish, his facials pours seem like they will erupt at any moment. These people look more like inhabitants of a documentary than a fictional romance. Barrow loves close-ups and editor Norman Buckley combines them into dizzyingly fast sequences that keeps the pacing and the energy high.
Soon their small apartment is brimming with sexual tension. Betty wants more out of her life, but her husband is content with the challenges of running an inner city fish store. She looks sadly in the mirror at her aging body. Quiet Nick becomes Joe's second son, but Nick's hormones are raging, and he admires his young body which explodes with its sexuality.
As the title suggests, Betty and Nick are soon doing it all the time and in every locale possible. Amazingly, in a tiny apartment with thin walls, they never seem to wake up Nick.
The tension ratchets up even more when Danny, his wife Amy (Bitty Schram), and their young son Peter arrive home at a very inauspicious moment. Steve Schub is great as an obnoxious son who claims that stars are fighting to have him on their show, but right now, of course, he is a little hard pressed for cash. Schub has this evil look that makes his every statement seem to have deep hidden portent.
All of the performances are quite good, but Maria Conchita Alonso owns every scene she is in. She gives a beautiful and insightful performance of a woman who loves her husband, but doesn't want to let go of her sexuality. Nick is so available and so handsome, that it is hard to do anything but make love to him. Yes, it is wrong, but like the bottle and the alcoholic, they are drawn to each other.
The ending is much more impressive and complicated that the straightforward title suggestions. It is the best part of the film, and I liked it all except the way the conflict between Nick and Danny is resolved.
Masterfully directed by Robert M. Young (DOMINICK AND EUGENE and TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT) and with a well developed screenplay by Edward Pomerantz (based on his book "Into It"), CAUGHT is an entrancing film with sympathetic characters that keeps you glued to the screen. The script saves the best for last without ever cheating the audience along the way. Sometimes devastating, periodically erotic, always smartly written and acted, and frequently tender, CAUGHT is a cornucopia of emotions. If you go, it will catch you in its spell.
CAUGHT runs 1:59 but doesn't seem near that long. It is rated R for one dope smoking scene, lots of sex of many varieties, nudity, some violence, and bad language. It would be okay for mature teenagers only. For adults, I recommend it and give it ***.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: September 30, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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