← Back to Reviews
in
Single White Female
Despite a predictable screenplay and overheated direction, the 1992 psychological thriller Single White Female is worth watching because of an extraordinary performance by the queen of "hot mess" movie characters, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Bridget Fonda plays Allie, a fashion designer who lives with her boyfriend, Sam (Steven Weber) until she discovers that he has cheated on her. She impulsively throws him out and decides to advertise for a roommate, ultimately deciding on a woman named Hedy (Leigh), who initially seems a little needy until Allie reconciles with Sam, causing something to snap inside Hedy, eliminating anything in her mission to have Allie to herself.
The screenplay by John Lutz and Don Roos is an uncomfortable combination of confusion and predictability, starting from the opening scene, which is a clearly a flashback but we really don't know who these girls are in the flashback. Once Hedy move in with Ally things begin to come into focus to an extent. The story attempts to confuse by having Hedy appear jealous every time she catches Allie and Sam in a romantic situation, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Hedy's priorities are with Allie, not Sam as she begins to eliminate people who are getting between her and Allie, the same way Michael Beihn started eliminating everyone between him and Lauren Bacall in The Fan.
The film features stylish direction from Barbet Schroeder, who had just received an Oscar nomination for directing Reversal of Fortune. His camerawork lets us inside the heads of these characters as much as he wants us to. He takes a little more care in revealing exactly who Hedy is. We are waffling on what's going on with Hedy until that scene in the beauty parlor where she coyly slithers down those stairs with her hair the same cut and color as Allie. When Allie finally figures out exactly what's going, which takes way too long, the story gets harder to swallow, especially when Allie and her gay BFF (Peter Friedman) are unable to overpower Hedy together.
But no matter how silly the story gets, it never becomes unwatchable thanks to the magic of Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose beyond creepy Hedy leaps off the screen. Fonda, Weber, and Friedman make the most of their roles, but this is Leigh's show and she delivers what is required of her here.
Despite a predictable screenplay and overheated direction, the 1992 psychological thriller Single White Female is worth watching because of an extraordinary performance by the queen of "hot mess" movie characters, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Bridget Fonda plays Allie, a fashion designer who lives with her boyfriend, Sam (Steven Weber) until she discovers that he has cheated on her. She impulsively throws him out and decides to advertise for a roommate, ultimately deciding on a woman named Hedy (Leigh), who initially seems a little needy until Allie reconciles with Sam, causing something to snap inside Hedy, eliminating anything in her mission to have Allie to herself.
The screenplay by John Lutz and Don Roos is an uncomfortable combination of confusion and predictability, starting from the opening scene, which is a clearly a flashback but we really don't know who these girls are in the flashback. Once Hedy move in with Ally things begin to come into focus to an extent. The story attempts to confuse by having Hedy appear jealous every time she catches Allie and Sam in a romantic situation, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Hedy's priorities are with Allie, not Sam as she begins to eliminate people who are getting between her and Allie, the same way Michael Beihn started eliminating everyone between him and Lauren Bacall in The Fan.
The film features stylish direction from Barbet Schroeder, who had just received an Oscar nomination for directing Reversal of Fortune. His camerawork lets us inside the heads of these characters as much as he wants us to. He takes a little more care in revealing exactly who Hedy is. We are waffling on what's going on with Hedy until that scene in the beauty parlor where she coyly slithers down those stairs with her hair the same cut and color as Allie. When Allie finally figures out exactly what's going, which takes way too long, the story gets harder to swallow, especially when Allie and her gay BFF (Peter Friedman) are unable to overpower Hedy together.
But no matter how silly the story gets, it never becomes unwatchable thanks to the magic of Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose beyond creepy Hedy leaps off the screen. Fonda, Weber, and Friedman make the most of their roles, but this is Leigh's show and she delivers what is required of her here.