The Hot Spot Reviews

• "There's only two things to do in this town. You got a TV?"

  
  By A25ZVI6RH1KA5L on 2004-09-21
  I admit The Hot Spot (1990) popped up on my radar solely due to the fact Jennifer Connelly appears topless in one scene (How many people went to see the 2001 film Swordfish based solely on Halle Berry appearing topless?). I really didn't have much confidence in the film itself, as it stars Don Johnson, and while he may have been the flavor of the month in the 80's with his Miami Vice show, he really drove me away with his subsequent, and short lived, singing career (anyone remember the song Heartbeat? It was picked as one of the 50 worst songs ever by VH1). Also, the film was directed by 60's leftover Dennis Hopper, whom I like as an actor, but was unsure of his directing talents...let's look at his directing endeavors (the one's I've seen, at least)...there's the quintessential 60's counterculture film Easy Rider, the 1988 film Colors, which focused on the ever rising gangster/criminal mentality prevalent in LA at the time (still is, as far as I know) which was, and is, really good, and then there's the 1994 film Chasers...that last one is worth about two bad films it was so awful...so two great films, and one really bad film...alright, I'll swing with it...show me what you got...
  
  Along with Don `Sonny Crockett' Johnson, the film also stars Jennifer Connelly (I know, I already mentioned her, but she's so nice, I had to do it twice), and Virginia Madsen, an actress known for her ability to adapt to just about any role she takes. Also appearing is Charles Martin Smith, a talented and prolific character actor most people would probably recognize as the nebbish/ nerdy character Terry `The Toad' Fields from George Lucas' American Graffiti (1973), and another popular character actor William Sadler, who has also appeared in films like The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Demon Knight (1995), and The Green Mile (1999), to name a few.
  
  The film (`noir for the 90's', the trailer says) begins with a man, who name we learn later as Harry Madox (Johnson) drifting into a small Texas town much like a predator stalking a young, innocent, and unwary prey. He insinuates himself into a position of the local used car dealership, owned by George Harshaw, an older man, with a sexy young wife, Dolly (Madsen), and a heart condition (that seems like a bad combination). Also working at the lot are fellow salesman Lon (Smith), and Gloria Harper (Connelly), as a bookkeeper. It seems Harry's got more on his mind than selling used cars, as he begins formulating plans to rob the local bank, which would be no great task as the security is lax to the point of being a non-existent, virtually begging Harry to come and take its' goodies. To complicate matters, he engages in an affair with Dolly (well, more like she chooses to have relations with him, as I didn't feel Harry had much choice in the matter, as Dolly `always gets what she wants'). And on top of that, he quickly develops an interest in sweet, young, and seemingly innocent Gloria, to which she seems responsive to Harry's attentions. And don't forget the town sleaze ball Frank Sutton (Sadler), who seems to be into everyone's business (especially with his camera with the monster telephoto lens), choosing blackmail as his trade of choice. The robbery goes off as planned with little problems, but even the best laid plans can suffer complications, and that's the case here as Harry, who the police see as the number one suspect, finds that Dolly has provided him an alibi, but for a price (it ain't money, Bubba). Things really get messy as the plot thickens, as others become involved.
  
  I'd have to say Madsen was probably the best element in this entire movie. She's very easy on the eyes, and creates a very sexy, manipulative, vindictive, self-centered character people love to hate. When we first meet her, she seems like your classic gold-digging character interested in a dalliance (or two, or three) due to her much older husband's inability to perform certain martial responsibilities, but we learn she has plans and ambitions, much like Harry, for more than what she currently has...Madsen also appears to have the most nekkid time, flashing the audience a great number of times, completely within character, of course. Johnson did well, better than I would have thought, as the predator who soon finds himself prey, and realizing it much too late to effectively defend himself. I did feel his character, who I felt was supposed to be savvy and streetwise, fell into some easily avoidable and obvious traps, traps his character should have seen and been able to side-step, but whatever...oh yeah, for all you ladies out there, never fear, as Donnie has a few non-clothed scenes (mostly tushie shots), coming in a distant second in on screen nekkid time, far behind Madsen. Connelly's role as the sweet, young, and innocent Gloria was the weakest, presented as juxtaposition to Madsen's polar opposite characterization of Dolly. Connelly comes in third place in the nekkid on-screen challenge, but sometime a little is a lot...I thought Hopper did a great job with his direction providing the proper atmosphere and setting, and all the plot twists kept me in the dark about who was pulling who's strings. My only real problem with the film was it was just too damn long, with a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes. I think Hopper could have lopped 20 or 30 minutes off and still had a great film, but I think he deliberately kept the pacing as slow as it was to really allow for all of the elements to come together and also opportunity for the audience to take it all in...
  
  MGM provides a really nice, clean looking widescreen transfer here, and included is the original theatrical trailer. All in all, a good nod to noir films of the past, updated for the present.
  
  Cookieman108
  
  
  

• My favourite film..!

  
  By A1N7VMGX2FEFF1 on 2002-01-13
  Well, my first review and my favourite film to boot. Having read the book by Charles Williams- a gift from a friend who is big into literature and the classics, therefore I felt it might be good - I thoroughly enjoyed conjouring up the images of dusty hot Texas whilst trying to keep cool with the steamy sultry shenanigans between the two diverse female leads and Harry Madox, the main character. Watching the movie for the first time a year or so later, it struck me how rarely when one reads a book does the film match up to the imagined filmscape. In this instance it exceeded my expectations like no other film had done or has done since. With the wonderful music, evoking the atmoshpere in spades and the masterful performance by Don Johnson - hitherto remebered by most for his role in Miami vice and its lack of real depth - the movie comes alive to me as a romantic representation of what I imagine a small Texan town and its bizarre characters may be like. Jennifer Connely is indeed one of the most beatiful women on screen, a shame that many seem to have just focused on her nudity as a reason to watch (or fast forward) the movie, I guess it must tell you a thing or two about them..

  You will either love or hate this movie for many reasons. I make no apologies for liking this and if you want a slick, stylish movie with great music, a hot steamy atmosphere and the opportunity to watch Don Johnson perform in the movie of his career (if only for posterity) then you will do worse than spend a couple of hours watching this.
  
  

• Everything good noir should be

  
  By A2V3P1XE33NYC3 on 2004-12-21
  Do you like noir? Then you'll absolutely adore Dennis Hopper's 1990 film "The Hot Spot." It's a rare film these days that can capture the essence of the noir style, a style that seemed to disappear for good nearly five decades ago. You would have to go back to a film like "Double Indemnity" to find something comparable to "The Hot Spot." Perhaps only a long time denizen of Hollywood like Hopper could successfully make a movie like this one--after all, his career extends back to the grand days of noir filmmaking. If I remember correctly, he actually made films with central figures of the genre. Still, it's tough to reconcile Hopper the actor with his the idea of him directing this picture. Remember him as the wacked out journalist in the epic "Apocalypse Now" and the wacked out biker in "Easy Rider," two films that are as far from noir as you can get? His manic, and often maniacal, performances onscreen just don't lend themselves to this film's style. Nor, for that matter, does the idea of television staple Don Johnson in the lead role. Yet it all comes together in a masterful movie that I'm ashamed to say I hadn't seen until recently.
  
  One day, a drifter with a past he's not willing to talk about named Harry Madox (Don Johnson) ambles into a small Texas town looking for work. He finds a job immediately at a used car dealership run by George Harshaw (Jerry Hardin), a man plagued by a bad attitude and a bad heart. Madox, however, doesn't seem like the sort of fellow who will put up with a lot of lip. While he gets along with fellow salesman Lon Gulick (Charles Martin Smith), his battles with Harshaw are constant. He also forms a fast connection with another employee, Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connolly), a gorgeous young girl who seems a bit on the shy side. Since the town is so small it comes as no surprise that George's wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen) soon learns about the new face and makes sure to put in an appearance. This woman is everything Gloria Harper isn't, i.e. extroverted, highly charged, extravagant, and never one to mince words. She makes clear in no uncertain terms that she's extremely interested in Harry Madox, a feeling initially reciprocated by Harry since he's the sort of guy who never turns down an opportunity. All of the attention Madox receives from the ladies is sure to lead to great torment down the road.
  
  Opportunities for Harry don't stop with women. He notices that this town has a bank, and that the employees of said bank are volunteer firemen who leave the building unattended whenever a fire breaks out. What's a fellow to do? Why, rig up a device to start a fire and then rob the bank after everyone in town runs down to watch the blaze. There are several problems with the heist: the sheriff (Barry Corbin) immediately suspects the newcomer of the crime, a man nearly dies in the fire, and Dolly Harshaw removes the cloud of suspicion hanging over Madox by providing an alibi for him. This last difficulty puts our man in a bad position. While he wants his relationship with Gloria Harper to proceed, Dolly's actions require Harry to wait at her beck and call. If he doesn't, all Dolly has to do is go to the police and retract her alibi and it's off to jail for Madox. Thrown into all of this is an unsavory character by the name of Frank Sutton (William Sadler). This chap is blackmailing Gloria Harper over some enigmatic past incident, and it's not too long before Madox feels he must take violent action in that direction. What a mess! Before it's all hashed out, a few dead bodies turn up and a few betrayals take place.
  
  "The Hot Spot" is a film that stands up well next to the old noir classics. There's not a bad performance anywhere in the picture. Don Johnson, arguably the biggest question mark in any big screen film, delivers an incredibly nuanced performance as a man with a penchant for getting into trouble no matter where he goes. Virginia Madsen, whose career is littered with B-movies and television films, quickly makes you wonder why she isn't a bigger star after taking the role of Dolly. Hopper seems to know he captured lightening in a bottle by casting her and thus keeps the camera on her for significant periods of time. Jennifer Connolly, well, is Jennifer Connolly. So gorgeous that it hurts your eyes to look at her, it's completely believable that Johnson's character would choose her over Dolly Harshaw any day. Put these memorable characters in the middle of a hot Texas town where sweat seems to fuel hormone swings, and you've got yourself a cracking good movie. The pacing of the film--slow and purposeful--mirrors the currents of life in a small town. And the music! Ultra cool jazz and blues music is the name of the game here. Every element of the film fits together so smoothly that it's stunning this wasn't a big hit at the box office. Perhaps those unfortunate wretches with tiny attention spans couldn't take the languid pace.
  
  Regrettably, perpetual scrooge MGM released this with only a trailer as an extra. I've discovered that MGM discs are a hit or miss proposition. On the one hand, newer films like "Jeepers Creepers 2" contain so many supplements that it takes hours to watch them. On the other hand, great older films like this one often show up in fullscreen ("The Hot Spot" is widescreen, thank goodness) with no commentary tracks or behind the scenes stuff. I can forego a lot of extras, but wouldn't a commentary track with Dennis Hopper fit well with this picture? Sure it would. Anyway, the movie is a winner and is definitely worth watching
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Jennifer Connelly?

  
  By A3WSG4KTQ9FRV on 2005-01-12
  Oh, yeah, she's in this too, isn't she? Let's see... The brunette, yeah.
  
  Good. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get serious and admit that Virginia Madsen is this film's proper eye candy. Yes, my enduring weakness for brassy blondes makes my opinion biased, but can anyone deny that Madsen dominates the rectangle whenever she's in view? Yes, yes, I know, the performance is cartoonish, camp, comical--I'm pretty sure that's what the role calls for--Barbara Stanwick on steroids--but she slides into the femme fatale with ease, has fun with it, and even gives it some depth, some mystery, a hint of pathos.
  
  Have fun counting the number of times she uses a body double for the nude scenes. (Hint: The camera follows her as she runs behind a tree beside the old mill, late at night. Is that really Virginia running out the other side?)
  
  Have fun with the her bizarre lines: ("I'm f---ing you to death, George!")
  
  Truly a great, ham-it-up performance by a versatile actress who never really got her due.
  
  Not to detract from Don Johnson's performance. He's almost perfectly cast here.
  
  
  
  

• Don Johnson torn between Connelly, Madsen, and Money.

  
  By A1SPB225CVTRUU on 2005-04-18
  Having recently seen Sideways, and captivated by Virginia Madsen's Oscar-nominated/career revival performance, it was my absolute curiosity to see what she was like more than ten years ago in this steamy sexual/bank robbery thriller. She was actually very good in this B-movie, and her role is similar to Sharon Stone's role in Basic Instinct. Gotta love her authentic Texas accent here!
  
  It's a movie about love, sex, and money. Don Johnson plays an out of towner con artist working undercover as a car salesman in a dealership owned by Virginia Madsen's hubby. She's an over-sexed bombshell and naturally she would hit on Johnson, but his true love interest is Jennifer Connelly, a secretary at the dealership. Johnson had masterminded a scheme to rob the local bank, and during his stay in town, he became involved sexually and romantically with the two ladies. It's a smart idea on how he managed to steal the big bundles of cash from the bank and then he had to figure out which woman should leave town with him.
  
  This is pretty sexy movie, and the viewers do get to see enough nudity of the three leads. Jennifer Connelly was very young, and her affair with the sexy Don Johnson seemed like a variation of Lolita. Virginia Madsen is very striking, and so different from her Sideways role, because she's so wild, raunchy, and insatiable.
  
  
• The Hot Spot
  By A2ZK6TN9X2L606 on 2005-03-05
  Having bought "The Hot Spot" almost exclusively on the reviews of Jennifer Connelly's topless "scene" here on Amazon, I was disappointed in that respect. This scene is outstanding but not worthy of the hyped-up reviews.
  
  In general, the nudity is less than I expected. But it's hard to complain about any nudity involving Virginia Madsen and Connelly. Both are as hot as I've seen them in our out of clothing in any project.
  
  In his own right, Don Johnson does an excellent job in this movie as he still has some of his "Miami Vice" prime left. Surprisingly, the script and plot are excellent as well.
  
  
• Don Johnson is a revelation
  By A3FHVYIL6FYHXI on 2005-10-20
  I actually bought this DVD because of Virginia Madsen having just seen "Sideways". I won't re-hash the plot as Amazon has already provided potential buyers with the outline. However, while Madsen and all members of the cast were great Don Johnson was the real revelation here. His acting was nothing short of superb in a complex part that required him to demonstrate wide emotional range from slick cynicism to tenderness, to the homicidal rage/grief and abject confusion of a smart operator who's been thoroughly out played. Looks plus smarts plus intention equal sex appeal. No wonder the women fought over him.
  
  
• Hot Film Noir
  By A28MVFT5E95EQ5 on 2000-07-22
  Don Johnson is perfect in this very sexy film noir. The two women are both just right for their bad girl / good girl roles. The ending is a shocker as it should be in this type of movie. But the standout is the inspired soundtrack. Most of the score is by Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker together. Miles' cool muted trumpet over the rough guitar of Hooker compliment each other perfectly, an audio reflection of the opposites in the two women characters and in the makeup of Johnson's character. This movie rates up there with Body Heat for modern noir.
  
  
• People usually rent this movie for a single reason
  By on 2001-06-25
  and that's the sight of Jennifer Connelly naked. She's lovely, certainly. But nobody comments on the pace of the film, which is deathly slow, and makes Stalker look like Tetsuo the Iron Man. I'm guessing most folks just eat up their tapes fast-forwarding (years ago I went hunting through local video stores looking for a copy of Two Moon Junction, but I was informed at every stop that their copy of the movie had died for just this reason). The rewarding moment in the film is really the scene at the waterfall, with Don and Jenny, which is a sort of dream-idyll in the midst of a lot of nonsense. Time finally seems to freeze, or stop, or maybe congeal (wasn't that the point?), and all that menace and so forth that powers the movie is banished. It isn't even an antidote to velocity, as it would be in other films. In the painfully slow, racheting down to death the film seems to enact (is it dying? slowly writhing? poisoned? what? it's noir, after all) stasis is the antidote, a stay of execution. It's thrilling to get a scene like this in such a piece of junk. There's a similar in moment in (of all things) Michael Moorcock's early novel The Twilight Man. All science-fictional hoodoo melts away for one afternoon, and the lovers enjoy a completely authentic, achingly beautiful moment in paradise.
  
  
• Oh, Jennifer!!!!
  By A1JPXEGGB1S060 on 2003-12-04
  It's true Jennifer's topless scene is very nice for us guys
  but,that is not all this movie offers.The acting in this film is
  good all way round. (At least in my eyes) Hopper is exellent at
  bringing the southern heat to the screen and telling an offbeat
  story that's fun to watch and that's what it's all about! I think
  this movie is an overlooked gem and i watch it at least once a year!

  Oh, Yeah!.... Did i mention Jennifer Connelly???
  
  

• Hot Spot
  By AY8Q1X7G96HV5 on 2000-06-15
  Director Dennis Hopper Kept This Movie On The Tame Side...Don Johnson Is Semicomatose As A Lowlife Who Drifts Into A Small, Nothing To Do Town...He Robs The Local Bank And Gets Involved With Two Women, One Bad (Virgina Madsen), And One Innocent (Jennifer Connelly)...Connelly Plays Her Character Well With Charisma And Charm...Good Acting With A Restrictive Director, This Film Has The Potential To Be A Great Deal More...
  
  
• A Waste Of Good 35mm Film
  By A790K98DWFW1E on 2002-05-02
  This is a confusing, sweaty mess of a film, that tries to be a sexy story of southern seduction, and turns into nothing more then a tribute to the heat and humidity of the south. If not for the tallent (and body) of Jennifer Connelly, this movie would be a total waste
  
  
• The Hot Spot is scorching HOT
  By A1JSF1HHFQ2HJX on 2004-01-16
  I am a big Jennifer Connelly fan so this film is very close it my heart and I recomend it because not only do we get to see Jennifer topless on a beach but the film is pretty good.

  Don Johnson does an admiral job in the film and I was impressed with the director Dennis Hopper a very nice film that wasn't expected to do anything when it was released in 1991.

  A worthy addition to your DVD collection or the guilty pleasure that is my collection
  
  

• Definitely a "Hot Spot"!
  By A39601XRAZQ3GH on 2001-06-09
  I certainly do not understand all the bad reviews for this movie. It definitely generated a lot of heat and the leads were perfectly cast. Jennifer Connelly plays a virginal office worker and Virginia Madsen is her polar opposite! Steamy, sexy, enticing. Don Johnson as drifter and ne'er do well Harry Maddox smolders when necessary. I'm surprised the TV screen didn't steam up from all the hot bodies and the steamy weather. Or was the weather steamy from the hot bodies? Great entertainment with an ending you will really not expect. Definitely worth the watch. Excellent music and excellent performances. Slow and deliberate movie making, not slam bam knock them in the face movie making, maybe that's why it got bad reviews, unintelligent folks can't understand it unless it is thrown in their face. No one does smoldering sexy better than Don Johnson and matched with Virginia Madsen, woo hoo!
  
  
• Eh . . .
  By on 2003-01-08
  I bought it for Jennifer Connelly's chest, I got that and quite an eyeful of Virginia Madsen, and what this all boils down to is that Dennis Hopper directed this movie. Seeing as how he did so many drugs in his time, that would explain why this movie makes woefully little sense.

  But hey, I got what I paid for. It's not like I was expecting an Oscar-winning effort here. But, oh, did my head hurt.
  
  

• Dennis Hopper is underappreciated
  By A3VPS5N1T52IEQ on 2006-07-05
  It seems that every time Dennis Hopper is on the Tonight Show, he gets asked about his relationship with his friend James Dean, back in the 1950s. The irony is that Dean died young after 3 films, and Hopper went on to have a long, distinguished career, which was in many ways more interesting and accomplished than anything Dean ever did. Amongst the accomplishments for Hopper is his directing, in this case THE HOT SPOT. This movie is outstanding--it creates to a "t" the wicked ambience of film noir, and features fine performances from Johnson, Madsen, and Connelly. And a sound track featuring John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, and Taj Mahal!! My God, Hopper has impeccable taste!
  
  
• solid modern noir
  By A1H5I60LTGM0X0 on 2006-11-10
  This film didn't get much box office when it was released. Hopper blamed some of that on Don Johnson not hyping the film on the marketing circuit a'la talk shows, etc...
  
  In any case, it was a solid plot/acting/direction job. Connelly is totally believable as the innocent yet sensual small town girl. Was that really Virginia Madsen? Ever since Sideways, I just look at her in a totally different way from her appearance in The Hot Spot.
  
  Basically, just a nice little film.
  
  
• Film Noir makes a valient comeback attempt
  By A3VK4WLI2L563M on 2000-06-13
  Don Johnson and Virginia Madison pull every dirty trick in the book in this zesty bad boy meets bad girl story of lust in a town with nothing to do. Throw in a seemingly innocent ingénue to complicate the hate-need-hate relationship between Johnson and Madison and you've got a movie demonstrating just how rotten people can be. However, it's not entirely painful to watch has some good one-liners, and advice for how to scheme, commit murder, mayhem, and other assorted thuggary and get away with it.
  
  
• Awfull! But?
  By A1420G07V2Q8I2 on 2000-07-31
  This pretty awfull, mean spirited movie is a must see for several reasons the primary being Virginia Madsen's portrayal of the quintessential bad girl. Her relentless pursuit of her desires make for some rewarding film voyerism. The scene in which Don brings her husband's hat to her and ends with Virginia standing on the stairway balcony telling a bewildered Don that he is a "Bad, Bad Boy" is a gem. This movie reminds me of "Gotham" in which Tommy Lee Jones substitutes for Don as Virginias prey and has a scene in which Tommy is informed that she is a woman with very expensive tastes and that she "can handle a thief and a liar and most any type of criminal but will not tolerate a man wearing a hundred dollar suit" leaving tommy to examine his off the rack threads. Jennifer Connelly's wholesome beauty provides great contrast to Virginia's bad girl in Hot Spot and the movie has perhaps the best closing line of all time; "Well I finally found my level, and I'am living it".
  
  
• Interesting
  By on 2000-06-09
  This is an interesting, if not sleazy portrait of Don Johnson as a small time hustler and literal "used car" salesman out for the BBD(Bigger,Better,Deal)Simultaneously waltzing the town pump,town bank,town virgin, and town porn king, Don goes from one bad thing to another. I have to say that Jennifer Connnelly-although in a limited role, is breathtaking as the town ingenue. There is just the right touch of confusion and mytery here to make this an enjoyable and provocotive movie.
  
  
• low down, nasty and very tasty
  By A3LGDXHXYBMGCY on 2003-01-13
  this is a helluva fun movie. yes, masden and connelly are great to look at and the camera gives us plenty of opportunities to do that, but this movie is about the way that our gut nature, our character, our instincts, whatever you want to call it, completely overwhelms our attempts to plan, connive, scheme, lie, thieve, blackmail and murder our way to a better life. as human nature is the protagonist, all the characters are more vivid than life and every role is played to the hilt: the cunning con man is just unbelievably cunning, the chaste young girl is just unbelievably chaste, the smarmy redneck is just unbelievably smarmy, the sexy rich wife is just unbelievably sexy, and the sex between her and the rambling car salesman/conman is just too unbelievably hot and irresistible not to be fate in disguise. as heraclitus said, "character is destiny." it all churns along like a perfectly timed v8 engine -- every plot twist is weirder than the last, and unfolds with the drama of a slow motion car wreck or a hot asphalt car race. this is a "b" movie and proud of it, and that makes it a gem.
  
  
• Better Than `Basic Instinct`
  By A2TAV6XYP1UB4P on 2003-05-07
  After Finnishing up MIAMI VICE Don Johnson Took on this great
  role showing the audience a differnt and more versatile performance in one Harry Maddoux, a mysterious drifter with a
  icy cold meanstreak in him strolls into a small texas town
  conns his way into a salesman job for the town`s car dealership
  gets himself involved with his boss`s young,insatible wife Named Dolly Henshaw as well as Gloria Harper, the dealership`s secrtary who hides a terrible secret and plan and commits the perfect robbery of the local bank. These chain of events gradulay move at a great pace so the viewer has the time to ingest the endless twists this film has. As with basic instict this film doesn`t just showcase sex and viloence it shows how greed, blackmail and murder can be part of the human nature and sometimes a deep seeded nature that`s hard to control. Harry at the end of the film gets what he derserves his trechous womanizing ways leads him to his own wrong doing and just before the closing credits you Dolly getting what she always wants as both she and maddoux driving out of town. Steamy love Scenes, a suspensful bank robbery, the scene where Harry talks his way out of trouble with the police. The Scene where Harry savagely beats up a man for refusing to stop blackmailing Gloria. A must see
  film for fans of this type of film noir that is so good to watch.
  Don Johnson did a fantastic, credible job backing him up with
  a top notch cast.
  
  
• More than the sum of Jennifer Connelly's parts.
  By on 2003-09-14
  I used to dismiss Don Johnson as a pretty boy who couldn't act. The Hot Spot proved me wrong. Virginia Madsen (Whatever happened to her?) is also great. Barry Corbin plays a Texas sheriff as only he and the late Ben Johnson could. Half thriller/ half Tennessee Williams, this movie is clever, funny and has an ending that actually surprised me -a rarity.

  And if that doesn't do it for you, Jennifer Connelly (who is so sweet in this movie, you actually cheer on Johnson when he... No, I won't spoil it.) does have a jaw-dropping topless scene on the beach. I recommend watching the WHOLE movie though.
  
  

• Erotic movie! Great acting. Good score.
  By A2KBFB6A2D7PNO on 2006-01-21
  Don Johnson is so good-looking in this movie - but I think he smokes in almost every scene, which takes away from his attractiveness. Virginia Madsen was absolutely wonderful and played the part to perfection and was very erotic! Good movie, but a lot of sex! I loved the score - it was great.
  
  
• todo
  By on 1999-07-05
  the hot spo
  
  
• Five * aren't enough...
  By on 1999-07-08
  Before you die there are a number of things you MUST have done. Seeing this film is one of them. The mood set by Dennis Hopper is incredible, the cast close to perfect and the way the caracters are portrayed here is fenomenal. If you can watch this film without falling in love with Jennifer you are either gay, dead, or female...
  
  
• Great if you like Blues.....
  By on 2000-12-19
  I loved Miami Vice for its great music, and would have to say I loved this film for the same reason, but definitely nothing more! I read somewhere that Don Johnson went back to acting school after this film. I think this is an over-reaction: the film isn't that bad. At no point was I bored. The plot has one or two nice twists, and apart from the shot of Don Johnson's naked butt (yuk!) I thought the film was OK. But nothing more than OK.

  So why the 4 stars? Because if you like blues, the soundtrack to this movie is great! I play the CD a lot, and have sat through the video of the film several (3, I think) times, to get into the atmosphere associated with this music.
  
  

• One of Dons best
  By on 2001-01-16
  SLEAZY DRIFTER DON COMES TO A DUSTY SMALL TOWN AND PROCEEDS TO RAISE HELL WITH THE LOCALS,INCLUDING A EVIL VIRGINIA MADSEN AND NAIVE JENNIFER CONNOLY.........DIRECTOR DENNIS HOPPER DOES A NICE JOB HERE....THE MOVIES STYLISH, NEVER DULL AND HAS GOOD PERFORMANCES FROM ALL THE LEADS......I LIKED HOW HOPPER OFFERS A CLUE TO THE ENDING OF THE MOVIE,IN THE SCENE WHERE DON IS STANDING IN THE LIVING ROOM LOOKING UP AT VIRGINIA ON THE STAIRS LANDING......FROM WHERE HES LOOKING,SHES STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO A FEROCIOUS STUFFED POLAR BEAR, AND WE SEE THINGS FROM WHERE SHES STANDING, AND TO HER,HE PROBABLY SEEMS LIKE ONE OF THE STUFFED PLAYTHINGS BY HER FEET.............HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
  
  
• THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A USED CAR SALESMAN
  By A10VQ0ZWMVHSLV on 2003-03-06
  I like this movie because I have been in auto sales/management since 1988. Don Johnson gives a fairly true meaning to what it's like in the lives of alot of us in the car business. Lots of putting people together and lots of sex! (good salesman can talk there way into and out of alot of circumstances!)
  
  
• 'Hot' Indeed
  By ANXWMD4TRTPXF on 2003-07-07
  Wow. I don't know what to say. This movie divides audiences into two groups one being those who believe it to be the finest in American Cinema and those who just want everyone in it to take a bath. This is a sweaty movie, lustful as well.
  It is very noir-ish. 'Ish' because it has a style of noir without the mood of noir. Hopper is great photographer he and his DP really had chemistry but sometimes the story is so convulted and the actors so sweaty much is missed.
  Jennifer Connelly is beautiful and really good in this one, but that goes for every movie she is in. Don Johnson seems to think his eyes are the only things he needs to pull of a scene and Virginia Madsen is woefully underused.
  Much has been written about the nude scene and frankly I thought it was a little out of place. The music is so great though.
  Try it once and then see how you take to it, but don't recommend it to too many people they may not take you seriously afterwards.
  
  

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