Crimes of Passion | Kathleen Turner, Bruce Davison

Crimes of Passion | Kathleen Turner, Bruce Davison | worth it for the dialoge between Turner and Hopkins

DVDs:

Crimes of Passion

	Crimes of Passion Kathleen Turner, Bruce Davison Starz / Anchor Bay, 2002 average customer review:based on 30 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The crazy man of British film, Ken Russell (Women in Love, Whore), hit the apex of guilty-pleasure absurdity with Crimes of Passion, a dark if pointed (and ultimately poignant) walk on the wild side. Although this schizophrenic, neon-blurred traipse through the red-light district of Los Angeles, courtesy of hooker and guide China Blue (Kathleen Turner), never made much money at the box office, it still managed to eke out a cult following. Barry Sandler's script felt a lot like a play with its rather stilted (but furiously funny) dialogue between Turner and Anthony Perkins, who plays an obsessed and crazed stalker/reverend who believes he is China Blue's savior. Their story is contrasted against that of Bobby Grady (John Laughlin), who is married to the materialistic Amy (Annie Potts). After taking a second job as a private investigator for a dress manufacturer who thinks his lead designer, Joanna Crane (Turner again), is selling patterns to a rival, Bobby becomes mired in a netherworld he never imagined. But it's Bobby who becomes Joanna/China Blue's true savior; it seems Joanna's husband cheated on her and she created the alter ego, China Blue, in order to control her world by making men dependent on her sexuality. The facade cracks after Bobby hits the scene. Russell's film is bawdy and even daring, and the unrated version on DVD features a couple of scenes (one with China Blue, a cop, and his nightstick, as well as some flashes of pornography) that were not included in the film's original release. Also for die-hard fans, Sandler originally ended the script at a more ambiguous place in the climactic scene in Joanna's apartment. An "epitaph" with Bobby at an encounter group was added to appease the distributor, who wanted a more upbeat, "Hollywood" conclusion. Sandler's original idea gave the film a real wallop, but despite the change, Crimes of Passion remains an original camp classic. --Paula Nechak

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A minor classic

1984's Crimes of Passion at first seems like some trashy, 80s 'hip' tale about a woman's double life as a stylish hooker, but what we really get is a disturbing, stylish 100 minute analysis of the nature of sex, desire and relationships featuring some utterly fascinating characters, who despite their over-the-top behavior are weirdly compelling and believable. Anthony Perkins is intense as the off-the-handle, violent street-corner 'reverend' who becomes infatuated with China Blue and his idea of 'purifying' her. When he sings 'Hallelujah, Come on Get Happy' to a tied up, horrified Kathleen Turner, and then proceeds to don Turner's China Blue outfit, we are in pure, demented Psycho territory. You can't take your eyes off of Kathleen Turner as Joanna Crane/China Blue, she is at her most beautiful here, despite a silly blonde fright wig that she wears when in her China Blue role. Director Ken Russell is at his flamboyant best here, intercutting wild erotic art ranging from Japanese prints to Aubrey Beardsley lithographs to undercut the intense scenes. A great synth-based Rick Wakeman score, of Strawbs fame, fills the movie with a weird tension.

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worth it for the dialoge between Turner and Hopkins

Offbeat as this movie is, there is a priceless exchange of dialogs between Turner's China Blue and Perkin's Shane, the street preacher. It is this dialog alone I feel is worth watching it for. It is irreverent, offbeat, and on occasion down right goofy. One can not help but feel that the preacher is only a figment of China Blue's imagination, a battle of her conscience, and the struggle between good and evil. It is a shame that the talents of Anthony Perkins was not fully realized. This part is tailor made for him in many ways.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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