Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Purely Joyful Movie!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film stars sexy Kevin Kline and Kevin Spacey, both married and recently becoming next door neighbors. Kevin Kine is supposedly in a happy relationship with his wife (played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, but all hell breaks loose when Kevin Spacey's character sets his new friend up for the murder of his wife so he can collect on a heft insurance policy. Does the criminal justice system in America really let a man who is about to stand trial for a brutal murder out on bail? Do they then let him wander, unsupervised, wherever he pleases? This movie started out great the way it established the growing friendship between two very different couples and then moved into a murder mystery. The acting was first-rate (with the exception of Rebecca Miller can we say boring?) but then the plot defied logic. Further, it is completely unrealistic that a shattered Kevin Kline's wife would have so immediately taken up with Kevin Spacey. By the time the film ended, it felt like a comedy, it was so ridiculous! Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Composer Richard Parker (Kevin Kline) and his wife Priscilla (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) are an ordinary suburban couple. Eddy (Kevin Spacey) and Kay Otis (Rebecca Miller) move in next door. They become fast friends. Eddy is a risk-taking financial adviser. Richard hits Eddy with his car but Eddy reveals that it's an insurance scam with the money going to the Parkers. Eddy keeps pushing Richard to take greater risks including sleeping with Kay. It sets Richard on a downward spiral all orchestrated by Eddy.The problem starts with the Parkers. They are suppose to be the average suburban couple but Richard's infidelity is really problematic. They are perfectly happy to take the money from the insurance fraud. They are not innocent victims and I can't treat them as such. The major problem is Eddy's convoluted scheme. I have a few issues. Some of it is too convenient for the plot. There are nobody to root for and the plot has problems.

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.

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.