SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) And what a shame the stamina and intrigue of the first half wasn't maintained!Not to take away from the brilliant Kevin Spacey who steals the movie right out from under everyone even though they also have appeal. I liked the two male lead characters and I cared about them. The women on the other hand are cardboard. You simply can't care about them as their characters are so underdeveloped.The second half of the film, the "thriller" portion, starts to fall apart and far too quickly. There are more plot holes than a kindergartener's knitting. I had to stifle a lot of groans.And then the classic bloody beating 'em to death, complete with hiding behind curtains and evading the police (who would have HELPED), oh please!I wonder if there was a switch in writers to do this much damage to the second half of a film that held such great promise. And oh, that secret wife swapping arranged by the husbands in order to rape the "unsuspecting" woman? And forgiving a spouse for even thinking to do this?Gag.Rating 5 of 10 stars for the first half only.

Josie Froissaner Wow, this movie was so bad it was almost as funny as watching one of those awful Grade B sci-fi flicks Elvira used to show, but not quite. Surprised at the two Kevins--Kline and Spacey--whom I usually enjoy--being in this dud. The story line was highly implausible, the acting was terrible, the cinematography so unfocused that I can't believe this boring little blunder was even made. Even the singing was terrible. Kevin Kline's character, in it's own way, was almost as low as Spacey's, especially with the sneaky wife swapping part. After he has his way with the supposed Rebecca Miller character, he sits at his kitchen table next morning and tells his wife he loves her! Yeah, right! Mastrantonio's character left a lot to be desired in the way of integrity, such as the way she leaped at accepting the fraudulently acquired insurance money and then acted self-righteous defending Eddie for having the nerve to fight to get the cash. She did look very pretty, however. If the Rebecca Miller character was a bombshell, why was she shot usually at fuzzy distances, never in a sharp close-up except in the end, in the dark, when her face is mostly concealed by a ridiculous red wig? Her bathtub scene was hilarious, especially when she rose from the water with her butt to the camera and put on her robe just standing there. Her attempts to look sizzling in Kline's voyeuristic eyes only made her look like she had cramps. Her performance was moribund, and Kline's ran a close second for morbidity. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen and only the well-grounded talent of Spacey and Kline saved their careers in its aftermath. Spacey does get good marks for the diabolical expression on his face when Mastrantonio is trying to flee the beach house, flings up the door thinking he is gone, and there he is in all his evil glory hiding in the closet. That's about the only good thing I can say about this flick.

Jackson Booth-Millard From director Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men, Sophie's Choice) this is an odd thriller film. Basically Richard Parker (Kevin Kline) and his wife Priscilla (Scarface and Robin Hood: Princes of Thieves' Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) have an ordinary life, and they meet new neighbours Eddy Otis (Kevin Spacey) and his wife Kay (Rebecca Miller). They seem to become friends quite quickly, and for some reason because Richard is looking at Kay quite a lot, Eddy seems to be okay about it, and knows he wants to have sex with her. He somehow manages to persuade Richard to get in bed with Kay and have sex, and not long after she is found murdered, Richard was set up for money. Richard is out on bail, and he wants to prove his innocence to detective David Duttonville (Forest Whitaker). Richard believes that Kay is still alive, and it all comes to a climax when Eddy, who I thought was creepy anyway, is trying to kill Richard. To be honest, it is a little random, and not the sort of film I had in mind, when it mentioned neighbours from hell, that's what I wanted, not this. Okay!

edwagreen The first part of the film really drags where a musical performer, Kevin Kline, leads an average life with wife and daughter. Along comes the new neighbors.Kevin Spacey is in fine form as the neighbor. At once, he shows himself to be an oddball. He becomes a little too friendly with Kline and Mary Elizabeth, and when they say they're not that rich, he fakes an accident so that they can get money. All this comes at a price, he wants to swap partners. I thought I was dealing with a picture about swinging but how wrong I was.The film really takes off when Spacey's wife is found dead and Kline, who had supposedly gone to bed with her, is the prime suspect in her murder.While the movie becomes a murder mystery, this exciting part could have been handled a lot better. It is soon determined that Spacey had a large insurance policy out on his wife, and more shockingly, the dead woman is not his wife, and furthermore, Spacey is now carrying on with Kline's wife. All this as you can imagine is a little too hard to take.The ending has that riveting feeling but you feel that you've gone way out of the way to get to this point.