If someone were to ask me what movie every newlywed couple should watch, my response will be Fatal Attraction.
Adrien Lyne's 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction, which celebrated it's 25th anniversary this month, is still as relevant and terrifying as ever. Glenn Close's Alex Forrest still remains the single greatest triumph for the highly versatile actress. And it still manages to cause even the most devoted husbands to become paranoid.
The rules are simple: don't cheat on your spouse. Otherwise, you'll end up with an obsessed and violent stalker who won't leave you alone. Oh, and you should probably hide any furry creatures.
Everyman Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas), who lives with his wife and daughter in a New York apartment, decides that these rules can't possibly hurt him. He'll be able to keep it a secret; after all, him and his date will "both be adults". Who would suspect that anything would go wrong?
When his family leaves for the weekend, Dan meets Alex Forrest, an attractive new editor working with Dan's lawyer firm. They spend the weekend together, but when he tries to return home, Alex decides she's not done yet. So, she slashes her wrists in an attempt to get Dan to stay with her longer, which of course he does, leaving her even more attracted to him. Matters get worse when Alex begins creeping into every aspect of Dan's life, from constant phone calls at work to visits to his Manhattan home. Now, Dan can't escape Alex's brutal touch, and has to protect his family from this obsessed stalker.
Glenn Close is brilliant in arguably her greatest role as Alex Forrest. Her character is extremely fleshed out in her psychosis, thanks in part to a beautifully adapted screenplay of the short film Diversion (Dearden, 1980) by James Dearden and Nicholas Meyer. Close's performance has raised dozens of analyzes by both filmmakers and psychiatrists, who have grown to call the film one of the best screen depictions of borderline personality disorder. Plus, Close coined the popular slang word "bunny boiler" after the actions of her psychotic character.
Besides Close's chilling performance, Anne Archer's caught-in-the-middle wife to Michael Douglas' Dan, also captures our heart. She, Glenn Close, the director, and the picture itself were all nominated for an Academy Award. The directing is top notch; the mere camera shots make the viewer paranoid of every oddity, every phone call, and every unseen object. We know Alex is coming, but what she'll do next keeps the viewer both entranced and petrified.
But, the film remains most important for its affect on men. They are allured, but ultimately terrified, by the manifestation of the worst possible scenario of having an adulteress affair. Alex Forrest is the haunting memory in all men's nightmares; the bane to their marriage and existence. She stands for much more than a mere villain (for which she was named #7 on AFI's Top 50 Villains of All Time); her realistic nature always puts her in the back of men's minds of what could be the result of cheating on their spouse.
So, when your friend gets married and asks you what him and his spouse should watch, what movie are you going to recommend?
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