**MAJOR SPOILERS**
It's interesting. Adrian Lyne is responsible for two of the best erotic thrillers ever made. Fatal Attraction came first (the second is Unfaithful). What I like about Lyne, is he knows how to balance the erotic scenes with heavy drama. He is also a master at providing a false security in his films. In other words, when wathcing Attraction, the film is front loaded with the erotic scenes. For almost the first half hour of Attraction, one becomes so involved with the relationship between Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) and Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), and the initial chemistry that begins to evolve between the two, that it's easy to forget where this story is ultimately headed. Don't get me wrong. In that first half hour, there are definitely signs that Alex may not be the most stable individual in the world as she exhibits signs indicative of chemical imbalance. She will not take "no" for an answer when she tries to convince Dan to spend a second night with her. She responds to a prank in a strange way...a prank that Dan plays on her when he pretends to collapse while playing with the Gallagher family dog in Manhattan's Cental Park. She believes it's real at first, and begins to panic. After a few seconds, Dan opens his eyes, sits up, and starts laughing. Alex is initially pissed, claiming that her father died of a heart attack when she was young, right in front of her eyes. Dan apologizes, and then Alex begins to laugh while telling Dan that her father isn't dead, but living well in Phoenix. Dan appears to be a little bit perplexed by this as he lets out a little nervous laughter while saying, "Well...I guess you got me." Why this scene is so disturbing isn't fully realized until later in the film when Dan finds out that Alex's dad really did die of a heart attack when Alex was a kid. We don't find out whether or not it happened in Alex's presence, but it's subtely implied that it probably did. Alex, after their second day together, and following what becomes their last sexual liason starts to show much more intense psycholigical issues as she gets extremely angry when Dan attempts to leave. Ultimately, she then slits her wrists in an effort to keep Dan at her apartment to take care of her. The wounds are actually pretty superficial, but Dan does stay to make sure she is alright. It's after this scene that one is quickly reminded that this film is really about a literal "fatal attraction," and Alex comprehensively begins to make Dan's life a living hell. And that's what I appreciate about Lyne's film and his skills as a director. Make no mistake about it, this is not a film that celebrates infidelity. On the contrary, it illustrates just how damaging infidelity can be. Dan obviously deeply regrets his decision to have the affair, and becomes terrified when he realizes that Alex is a very disturbed sociopath who will stop at nothing to either win his allegiance through black male and bribery, or ensure that, if he refuses to be a part of her life, he will rue the day he ever crossed paths with Alex Forrest. Lyne lays bare the myth that having an affair can be fun and intriguing and the false notion that, as long as one is being careful, then they can live and act as if everything is perfectly normal. Lyne also obliterates the notion that one can cheat on their spouse with little regret and guilt (It's important to note that Dan actually starts to show signs of regret and guilt well before Alex goes on her ballistic rampage), and he effectively delivers his message to the audience that, not only are affairs dangerous, they can also be catestrophic family destroyers. One last observation: Fatal Attraction has multiple scenes that portray a suspense and ominous feeling. But one of the most effective scenes of suspense comes in the form of the camera focusing on a ringing telephone. Yes...a ringing telephone. It's so simple and yet it's also filled with much fear and tension. A scene like that illustrates the genius of Lyne. If you have never seen Fatal Attraction, I strongly recommend it. I also strongly recommend another Adrian Lyne film about the destructiveness of infidelity...the film I briefly mentioned at the beginning of this review...the 2002 movie Unfaithful (starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane). There's a role reversal in Unfaithful in that it's the wife who has the affair, and there are some similarities between Fatal Attraction and Unfaithful. However, overall they are two very different films (Attraction is the better of the two, but Unfaithful is quite good too). And yet both effectively portray the destructiveness of infidelity.
It's interesting. Adrian Lyne is responsible for two of the best erotic thrillers ever made. Fatal Attraction came first (the second is Unfaithful). What I like about Lyne, is he knows how to balance the erotic scenes with heavy drama. He is also a master at providing a false security in his films. In other words, when wathcing Attraction, the film is front loaded with the erotic scenes. For almost the first half hour of Attraction, one becomes so involved with the relationship between Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) and Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), and the initial chemistry that begins to evolve between the two, that it's easy to forget where this story is ultimately headed. Don't get me wrong. In that first half hour, there are definitely signs that Alex may not be the most stable individual in the world as she exhibits signs indicative of chemical imbalance. She will not take "no" for an answer when she tries to convince Dan to spend a second night with her. She responds to a prank in a strange way...a prank that Dan plays on her when he pretends to collapse while playing with the Gallagher family dog in Manhattan's Cental Park. She believes it's real at first, and begins to panic. After a few seconds, Dan opens his eyes, sits up, and starts laughing. Alex is initially pissed, claiming that her father died of a heart attack when she was young, right in front of her eyes. Dan apologizes, and then Alex begins to laugh while telling Dan that her father isn't dead, but living well in Phoenix. Dan appears to be a little bit perplexed by this as he lets out a little nervous laughter while saying, "Well...I guess you got me." Why this scene is so disturbing isn't fully realized until later in the film when Dan finds out that Alex's dad really did die of a heart attack when Alex was a kid. We don't find out whether or not it happened in Alex's presence, but it's subtely implied that it probably did. Alex, after their second day together, and following what becomes their last sexual liason starts to show much more intense psycholigical issues as she gets extremely angry when Dan attempts to leave. Ultimately, she then slits her wrists in an effort to keep Dan at her apartment to take care of her. The wounds are actually pretty superficial, but Dan does stay to make sure she is alright. It's after this scene that one is quickly reminded that this film is really about a literal "fatal attraction," and Alex comprehensively begins to make Dan's life a living hell. And that's what I appreciate about Lyne's film and his skills as a director. Make no mistake about it, this is not a film that celebrates infidelity. On the contrary, it illustrates just how damaging infidelity can be. Dan obviously deeply regrets his decision to have the affair, and becomes terrified when he realizes that Alex is a very disturbed sociopath who will stop at nothing to either win his allegiance through black male and bribery, or ensure that, if he refuses to be a part of her life, he will rue the day he ever crossed paths with Alex Forrest. Lyne lays bare the myth that having an affair can be fun and intriguing and the false notion that, as long as one is being careful, then they can live and act as if everything is perfectly normal. Lyne also obliterates the notion that one can cheat on their spouse with little regret and guilt (It's important to note that Dan actually starts to show signs of regret and guilt well before Alex goes on her ballistic rampage), and he effectively delivers his message to the audience that, not only are affairs dangerous, they can also be catestrophic family destroyers. One last observation: Fatal Attraction has multiple scenes that portray a suspense and ominous feeling. But one of the most effective scenes of suspense comes in the form of the camera focusing on a ringing telephone. Yes...a ringing telephone. It's so simple and yet it's also filled with much fear and tension. A scene like that illustrates the genius of Lyne. If you have never seen Fatal Attraction, I strongly recommend it. I also strongly recommend another Adrian Lyne film about the destructiveness of infidelity...the film I briefly mentioned at the beginning of this review...the 2002 movie Unfaithful (starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane). There's a role reversal in Unfaithful in that it's the wife who has the affair, and there are some similarities between Fatal Attraction and Unfaithful. However, overall they are two very different films (Attraction is the better of the two, but Unfaithful is quite good too). And yet both effectively portray the destructiveness of infidelity.