Why so much hype?

the audience applauded

The acting in this movie is really good.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Something about this movie grabbed my attention. It was familiar; I had heard of it somehow. I'd never seen it, but ... there was something. It's been available on Netflix for a while, and I put it on my list some time ago but had never watched it. Finally today I took the plunge. And I found it tedious watching from beginning to end. From the very first scenes I thought this movie had a cheap feel to it. Not low budget. Some low budget movie are smartly done; some realize they're low budget and make that part of their appeal. "Black Widow" felt cheap to me - a movie that wanted to be good and smart and taken seriously but didn't have the resources to pull that off. It was a huge disappointment.The story revolved around a woman (Theresa Russell) who makes a habit of marrying rich older men and killing them off for their inheritance - making sure that she does it in such a way that no one can pin anything on her or even suspect that the men were murdered. Except for one lonely FBI agent played by Debra Winger, who develops an obsession with the deaths of these men and, realizing that they had all married the same woman (who had used different names,) set out to get her. That's the movie. There's very little real suspense. We know Catharine killed them. It's a matter of seeing if Alexandra (Winger) can catch her.It's actually a kind of strange movie. Catharine and Alexandra develop a relationship; a friendship. There are hints that it could even be more than that - but, please, hardly a lesbian "subtext." It was far too obvious and forced for it to be a subtext - like the scuba diving classes where women give each other pretend mouth to mouth. Seriously? The story was bland and passionless - it was, indeed, tedious viewing. I managed to get through it. There was an attempt at a twist toward the end to keep the viewer off balance. Was this actually going to go down that way? But it wasn't a very convincing twist, and I never took the switch seriously; always assuming that things would work out as we suspected they would from the very beginning.A lot of people seem to have liked this; it's received a lot of good reviews. I just found it disappointing. (2/10)

Black Widow is directed by Bob Rafelson and written by Ronald Bass. It stars Debra Winger and Theresa Russell. Music is by Michael Small and cinematography by Conrad L. Hall.Two women. Catherine marries men for their money, then murders them. The other, Alexandra Barnes is on her tail, getting in close to hopefully expose her crimes...Rafelson's neo-noir homages the film noir femme fatales of the 40s and 50s with a high degree of success. There's much potency in the screenplay that puts it firmly in the noir universe. Flip flopping the misogyny angles of yesteryear, picture pitches the ultimate femme fatale destroyer of men into a cat and mouse scenario with a sexually repressed opponent - or is she a jealous but secret admirer? The transformation of Winger's dowdy Justice Department Agent into a blossoming lady at Catherine Black Widow's (Russell super sexy and sensuous) side brings in the doppelgänger effect, a good old noir staple. The sexual tension is a constant, particularly when Paul Nuytten (Sami Frey) is brought into proceedings, something which shifts the piece still further into noirville.There's also other characters straight out of film noir. Be it Alexandra's boss (the always reliable Terry O'Quinn), who's harbouring carnal desires for Alex, or sleazy Private Investigator H. Shin (James Hong) who has a needle habit, it's clear that Rafelson and Bass know their noir. Unfortunately most of the play is in daylight, meaning missed opportunities for some psychological shadow play is passed up. Though it should be noted that Hall's photography is slick and tonally in tune, especially when lighting scenes involving Russell as prime focus. It all builds to a splendid finale, the makers pulling us both ways as to where it will lead. Sure, some of the plot devices are weak, but in the main this is sexy, intriguing and tricky in narrative, whilst tech credits stay at the higher end of the scale. 7/10

One chick marries a rich old guy and then kills him, but she doesn't get rich enough, so she does it again... and again. Then this other chick, an investigator with the Justice Department sees a bit of a connection and does some research about rich old guys who marry and then die.But she has difficulty in persuading her boss to give her the OK and the money to go find the killer. Of course, we know that good will prevail and that evil-doers will be caught, but here is a really good surprise solution - well written, well directed and well acted.Theresa Russell as chick one, and Debra Winger as chick two are great. None of the others matter much. I've given it an 8

"Black Widow" is an entertaining thriller about a psychopathic killer called Catherine Paterson (Theresa Russell) whose modus operandi involves marrying and murdering wealthy men before inheriting their fortunes and disappearing without trace. This woman of many identities is eventually pursued by a government agent and an unusual and intriguing relationship soon develops between the hunter and the hunted.When a Justice Department agent who's involved in analysing computer data inadvertently discovers the existence of a series of deaths that bear certain similarities to each other, she becomes convinced that they're all the work of a serial killer. Unfortunately for Alexandra "Alex" Barnes (Debra Winger), her suspicions are based on intuition rather than hard evidence and she's unable to convince any of her colleagues or superiors that her findings warrant investigation.The cases that Alex has studied involve the deaths of middle aged men who were married to a significantly younger woman. They had all died in their sleep and their deaths had been attributed to a rare condition called Ondine's Curse. Alex's persistence eventually pays off and she's authorised to go undercover to identify her suspect and prevent any further victims from being added to the list.Alex's investigations lead her to Hawaii where she meets up with her suspect and the two women develop a friendship and become attracted to the same man. Catherine marries Paul Nuytten (Sami Frey) who's an international hotelier but when the police are investigating his apparent murder, they find evidence which points to Alex's guilt and she seems to be in a tight spot when she subsequently gets arrested and imprisoned.An unusual feature of this movie is the nature of the relationship which develops between Catherine and Alex. The two women are quite different as Catherine is glamorous and Alex dresses in a style which is more dowdy and unattractive. Alex seems to deliberately play down her femininity but at the same time appears to be fascinated by Catherine who unashamedly and very successfully, uses her sexuality to get whatever she wants.The sexual undercurrent which is hinted at initially is reinforced in a scene in which the two women practice mouth to mouth resuscitation on each other and also on another occasion when Catherine grabs Alex and kisses her aggressively. They bond by sharing things but there's also a lack of trust between them as neither loses sight of the fact that they are actually adversaries.Catherine Paterson is a fascinating femme fatale who's very meticulous in researching her potential victims. She's very skilled at learning all the things she might need to know to communicate easily with her targets and also has a marvellous ability to change everything about herself in order to snare her next victim. Depending on which husband she has at the time, Catherine is variously seen as being sophisticated, a woman with a strong Texan accent or a more reserved lady who's rather demure.Theresa Russell is particularly good at conveying Catherine's mysterious nature, her uncertain motivations and of course, the different characteristics she assumes when she's in the company of her various husbands. Debra Winger gives a fine performance as the dedicated workaholic who's obsessed with Catherine and determined to bring her to justice. The supporting cast are also good and James Hong is terrific in his minor role as a sleazy and sharp tongued private eye.