This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Looking here ...http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098394/ratingswe can see that females 30-44 gave this movie a rating of 8.1 .... way over any other group. Not only acceptable but notable.I thought this movie was irritating, frustrating, slow, stereotypical ... I could go on. I did watch it all the way through though, so I had to give it over a 1 which I reserve for the unwatchable.I obviously missed something and I would like to know what it was.Two American expatriate sisters living in Britain live their different lives, one a model and one a doctor.The doctor looks down on the model until the doctor does something decidedly un-doctorly and humiliates herself and near ruins her life with this buffoon of a man.What I don't get beside my obvious distaste for all the characters is ... what is the cup half full side that I missed ... I just do not get it.Miss this one ... at least until there is a good answer to my review in the message section! ;-)

Strapless is written by one of British theater's finest playwrights, David Hare. Strapless stars Blair Brown and Bridget Fonda as American expatriates in London. Blair and Bridget play sisters who are completely opposite of each other. While Blair's character is stable and a doctor, Bridget is unstable and unpredictable. The story gets bizarre with a stranger who courts Blair's character. His role gets bizarre during the film and it is never really explained away to me. Without spoiling a surprise, I don't think this film really lifts itself up from obscurity. They could have at least shown more of London, England.

I don't get this movie, not even after two viewings. What was Hare trying to do? What was he aiming at? It's as if a committee of mixed gender had sat around a table and put together a list of the things that they believe women want to see in a man who becomes their lover. Let's see. Continental accent, of course, with no clearly focussed origin, kind of like a "continental" menu. That goes without saying. Elegance in dress and grooming. No fur balls allowed here. Smooth, yes, to the point of manipulativeness. Polite. Soft spoken, not a bit brash. Loving, caring, sensitive (whatever that is). Mysterious too. That's an important ingredient. (Why is mystery appealing?) Maybe a bit dangerous, but not towards Blair Brown, and only a bit, rather like a spirited horse is dangerous. A tender and attentive lover, although we have to guess at that. But we already know that guys with continental accents are good lovers. Bountifully rich, of course. Brown: "I'll get the check." "Ganz: "There is no check. They know me here." Blair Brown, who has a beautiful used face in this film, responds by holding Bruno Ganz at bay through most of the movie because she doesn't want to be involved again, while one imagines all the women in the audience silently screaming at her -- "GET that guy!!!!"The performances are decent, although Ganz never smiles for fear of losing his mystery I guess. Bridget Fonda is sexy, sleazy, and not very well grounded in reality. But the plot cannot be overcome. That stereotypical male lover is a terrible insult to men and women alike. Perform a thought experiment in which the genders are exchanged and a female is the pursuer and a man the pursued. Then have the woman with an overblown body, a more than robust bosom and a big can, who drenches herself in perfume, wears tons of make up, has a penchant for dressing in black teddies and hose, wearing stiletto heels, prancing about with her tongue hanging out, and assuming postures around her target that suggests she is in a constant state of estrus. Isn't that the sort of image that Katherine MacKinnon has been calling pornographic? Shouldn't there be a corresponding pornographic image for men? If so, wouldn't this guy be in the running?

The film mesmerized me in the same way that the male lead tantalizes the female lead. There is something so focused about the silence in this film: penetrating looks, thoughtful glances, wonderment. Author David Hare uses the actors' eyes to reveal a woman's inner cravings and a man's use of silence as a manipulative tool. The title "Strapless" suggests the vulnerability of the characters. It is a romance done with mystery and charm.