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Faithful
My recent viewing of the Paul Mazursky dramedy Blume in Love prompted a look at another forgotten gem from the Mazursky library...a scorching black comedy called Faithful that keeps the viewer in the dark to exactly what's going on here.
Cher stars as Maggie, a pampered and wealthy housewife who is also in a deep depression because her husband, Jack (Ryan O'Neal) is cheating on her. As Maggie completes a suicide note and prepares to swallow a bottle of pills, a hitman named Tony (Chazz Palminteri) breaks in her house, ties her to a chair on wheels, and tells her that he has been hired by her husband to kill her but to rape her first to make it look more unplanned. Tony has been instructed for the phone to ring twice and stop as the moment to carry out the plan while Jack establishes his alibi far far away.
The screenplay is actually based on a a play written by Palminteri, who also wrote the play that became A Bronx Story. The story is a little on the talky side, revealing its stage origins, but he has created a couple flawed and fascinating characters in Maggie and Tony. Tony is particularly broken, revealing to be under a therapist's care, who he actually has on the phone sessions with while committing the crime, which we don't see coming. A second phone signal is established for the shrink, which creates unbearable tension every time the phone rings. The shrink is brilliantly played by the director. I also love when Tony is pushing Maggie around in the chair on wheels.
The film doesn't take too much time with exposition, though one seemingly unimportant moment during Jack and Maggie's reception does come into play. I love the transition that the Maggie character goes through, initially indifferent at the thought of dying, but eventually deciding to fight back in a couple of ways, one way that sets up an undeniable sexual tension between Maggie and Tony. As the film careens towards its sizzling finale, we begin getting several different versions of exactly what's going on here, kind of like the film Deathtrap, where we're never sure of what's really happening and, if the truth be told, I'm still not 100% sure of what happened here.
Mazursky has employed dazzling production values here to make it one of the most attractive photographed stage plays I've ever seen. Cher and Palminteri light up the screen and even O'Neal is effectively cast against type. And if you don't blink you'll catch a glimpse of Oscar winner Allyson Janney. A forgotten gem from the resume of Paul Mazursky.
My recent viewing of the Paul Mazursky dramedy Blume in Love prompted a look at another forgotten gem from the Mazursky library...a scorching black comedy called Faithful that keeps the viewer in the dark to exactly what's going on here.
Cher stars as Maggie, a pampered and wealthy housewife who is also in a deep depression because her husband, Jack (Ryan O'Neal) is cheating on her. As Maggie completes a suicide note and prepares to swallow a bottle of pills, a hitman named Tony (Chazz Palminteri) breaks in her house, ties her to a chair on wheels, and tells her that he has been hired by her husband to kill her but to rape her first to make it look more unplanned. Tony has been instructed for the phone to ring twice and stop as the moment to carry out the plan while Jack establishes his alibi far far away.
The screenplay is actually based on a a play written by Palminteri, who also wrote the play that became A Bronx Story. The story is a little on the talky side, revealing its stage origins, but he has created a couple flawed and fascinating characters in Maggie and Tony. Tony is particularly broken, revealing to be under a therapist's care, who he actually has on the phone sessions with while committing the crime, which we don't see coming. A second phone signal is established for the shrink, which creates unbearable tension every time the phone rings. The shrink is brilliantly played by the director. I also love when Tony is pushing Maggie around in the chair on wheels.
The film doesn't take too much time with exposition, though one seemingly unimportant moment during Jack and Maggie's reception does come into play. I love the transition that the Maggie character goes through, initially indifferent at the thought of dying, but eventually deciding to fight back in a couple of ways, one way that sets up an undeniable sexual tension between Maggie and Tony. As the film careens towards its sizzling finale, we begin getting several different versions of exactly what's going on here, kind of like the film Deathtrap, where we're never sure of what's really happening and, if the truth be told, I'm still not 100% sure of what happened here.
Mazursky has employed dazzling production values here to make it one of the most attractive photographed stage plays I've ever seen. Cher and Palminteri light up the screen and even O'Neal is effectively cast against type. And if you don't blink you'll catch a glimpse of Oscar winner Allyson Janney. A forgotten gem from the resume of Paul Mazursky.