It's easy to blame Rue McClanahan for the fact that this movie sucks, and in fact she is no help to it at all. She goes through the entire movie with a face frozen into a permanent grimace, as if someone is waving a small, fragrant turd under her nose. But she knows her lines, her blocking and movement are better than anyone else in the movie, and she is obviously trying to give her performance some weight and direction, as does the poor sap who plays her romantic interest.
But the real problem is the dreary, turgid screenplay and the aimless direction that tries for "Playhouse 90" but can't even manage "PeeWee's Playhouse." The movie tries so hard for profundity and existential weariness that it almost gives itself a hernia, but the dialog clunks like a lead washer in a drying machine and the actors just can't make the lines work.
Not to mention that, well, nothing much happens, and it takes 90 minutes of screen time to do it. There's a mildly interesting hold up sequence, performed without dialog, that is probably the highlight of the movie. There are three "stripper" sequences that have all the erotic appeal of a off balance washing machine in the "spin" cycle. There's a tepid romance between the two leads who come together because, well, the screenplay tells them to, and there aren't any other characters in the movie except the crooks and a sleazy producer.The ending is an exercise in pathos, but you can't be bothered to care because your interest has been bludgeoned into a coma.
In short, don't bother unless you are the world's biggest fan of Rue the Golden Girl. Maybe not even then, because it sure makes her look bad.
But the real problem is the dreary, turgid screenplay and the aimless direction that tries for "Playhouse 90" but can't even manage "PeeWee's Playhouse." The movie tries so hard for profundity and existential weariness that it almost gives itself a hernia, but the dialog clunks like a lead washer in a drying machine and the actors just can't make the lines work.
Not to mention that, well, nothing much happens, and it takes 90 minutes of screen time to do it. There's a mildly interesting hold up sequence, performed without dialog, that is probably the highlight of the movie. There are three "stripper" sequences that have all the erotic appeal of a off balance washing machine in the "spin" cycle. There's a tepid romance between the two leads who come together because, well, the screenplay tells them to, and there aren't any other characters in the movie except the crooks and a sleazy producer.The ending is an exercise in pathos, but you can't be bothered to care because your interest has been bludgeoned into a coma.
In short, don't bother unless you are the world's biggest fan of Rue the Golden Girl. Maybe not even then, because it sure makes her look bad.