An American Neo-Noir thriller on the heels of BASIC INSTINCT (1992), trying to cash in on the splash of erotic charge, but story-wise John Dahl's THE LAST SEDUCTION echoes more of Lawrence Kasdan's sweltering BODY HEAT (1981), meanwhile stoutly posits its focal point in its femme fatale Bridget Gregory (Fiorentino). On the spur of the moment (after being slapped by her doctor-in-training husband Clay), Bridget decamps from NYC with the $700,000 Clay (Pullman) has just obtained by selling stolen pharmaceutical cocaine to two drug dealers, and fetches up in a small town called Beston near Buffalo. Using an alias to lie low when her lawyer is seeking to facilitate a divorce from Clay, Bridget hooks up with a local man Mike (Berg) for sexual gratification and patly rebuffs the latter's knowing-each-other-more overtures, unlike Kathleen Turner using her body to entice William Hurt into her husband-killing plan in BODY HEAT, here Bridget's motive is purely carnal (at least initially), and there is a comical vibe oozing from Mike's dorky frustration of trying to deepen their liaison to little avail, he is her sex toy and he well twigs that she is too smart, too dangerous for his own good, but when the sensual satisfaction is mutually transmitted, a man of Mike's wit just cannot make any wise decision because they all tend to live in the wish-fulfillment that their sexual prowess can eventually tame the lioness both physically and mentally. But Mike is not a lion, he is just an ordinary Joe with average sexual allure and common codes of moral behavior. On the other hand, Bridget is not promiscuous in spite of her horny predisposition, Mike has remained as her only bedfellow under the circumstances, but when she needs someone to do away with Clay, who hires a private detective and is bent on having his doles back, she must wheedle a law-abiding Mike into a murderous vigilante, and this transitional arc is the meat of this erotic indie, and who would expect it is the deepest shame of homosexuality becomes the ultimate fillip in Bridget's cunning scheme. The film is soft-core in sight but ingrained feminist on the strength of Steve Baranick's sometimes incoherent (if Bridget simples leaves and starts anew somewhere, never resorts to a divorce and never contacts Clay again, there will be a very different story to be told) but piquantly subversive script albeit its male angle, and Linda Fiorentino shall be hallowed as one of the most iconic femmes fatales in the film-noir history, her lethal sex appeal is never feel contrived, or rehearsed to flaunt or conquer, but strangely spontaneous, she can talk about risqué stuff as if she is narrating a poem (in the scene where she manipulates the black private eye played by Bill Nunn) and never degrades her part into hokum, Bridget is lack of empathy, predatory, sly but also whip-smart, unsentimental and intuitively self-empowering, she is not a woman you want to be entangled with, but it doesn't hurt to put her on a pedestal for being uncompromisingly true to herself. Peter Berg's Mike is on a lesser note in terms of extraordinariness, an exceptional decision for him to convert to a career of directing blockbusters (HANCOCK 2008, BATTLESHIP 2012) and Mark Wahlberg vehicles. Bill Pullman is another humdinger here, poles away from his usual good-guy image, he is hilariously wacky and uncouthly sympathetic in this city-trash-versus-small-town-simpleton throw-down, for once, justice may not be justly served, but we all prefer this way!

Certainly, one can see the influence for Gone Girl in these sort of films. Linda Florentino even reminds me a lot of Rosamund Pike, in her mannerisms, her vocal clippings and style, and her sultry demeanor. The film is quite good, although not a masterpiece and not the film Gone Girl is. It has a certain appealing quality that really makes it stand apart, but I do wish the neo-noir style had gone further. As it is, it feels like it didn't utilize its complete potential, certainly not to the extent many of us would've wanted to (certainly me though). It's a good film though, unburdened by trying to pander to audiences and still finding a good way to be seductive and sexy. It's definitely recommended, for all its faults.

In New York, the cunning and seductive telemarketing manager Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) convinces her husband, Dr. Clay Gregory (Bill Pullman), to sell a load of cocaine for medical use to drug dealers. Clay raises US$ 100,000.00 with a loan shark and makes US$ 700,000.00 selling the drugs. However, she steals the money and flees to Beston, in Buffalo. She goes to a bar and has one night stand with the local Mike Swale (Peter Berg). On the next morning, she applies for a job position of manager of an insurance company using the name of Wendy Kroy and finds that Mike works in the same company. The naive Mike has just left his wife Trish that he briefly married in Buffalo and needy of love, he has a crush on Wendy. The manipulative woman sees in Mike the instrument to get rid of Clay and plots a sophisticated evil scheme using Mike. "The Last Seduction" is one of the best movies of the 90's with an amoral story of seduction and manipulation. This movie is, together with "Body Heat" (1981) and the unknown "Payback" (1995), one of the three best film neo-noirs. Linda Fiorentino is perfect in the role of the femme fatale that destroys the lives of three men – her husband, the private detective and the naive Mike. I saw this movie again yesterday and the story has not aged and is still a masterpiece of the genre. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "O Poder da Sedução" ("The Power of the Seduction")

I remember hearing about this film before and trying it, but I got bored within about ten minutes, thank goodness it was listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die otherwise I wouldn't have tried it again and watched it all the way through, from director John Dahl (Red Rock West). Basically Bridget Gregory (Men in Black's BAFTA nominated Linda Fiorentino) is a sociopathic femme fatale who has stolen $700,000 from her husband Clay (Bill Pullman) who does drug dealing, and she heads for Chicago to start a new life. She finds the small town of Beston, Buffalo, and she meets Mike Swale (Peter Berg) who has recently married and divorced, she is just after sex and he is wanting to get away from things, and he is interested in finding out more about her. It is after Bridget changes her name to "Wendy Kroy" (New York backwards) and gets a job in the same insurance company Mike works for that they grow closer together, and Clay meanwhile has hired private detective Harlan (Bill Nunn) to help find her and the money. As they get to know each other, Mike tells Bridget how to tell if a person is having an affair, based on credit reports, and she plots a devious plan of fake murder, even pretending to go to Florida, but actually to see Mike's ex wife Trish (Serena). She shows him the money she stole and claims that she got it from a murdered victim, one who had an affair, and she says he must murder someone to make things even between them so they can live together, and prove he loves her. He at first refuses, but then he sees a fake letter, actually written by Bridget, saying that Trish is moving to Beston, and he agrees to murder the "tax lawyer" she tells him about, when in fact it is Clay. Harlan has failed to follow her when she visits the house on a few occasions, but Clay, tied up, manages to make Mike see what is going on with the woman he loves, proving his story their marriage photographs, and they plan to double cross her like she has to them. But Bridget kills Clay herself, and he tries to enrage Mike into raping her, telling him that she knows Trish is actually transsexual, and he does rape her, but he does not realise she phoned the police who hear the crime, so he goes to jail while Bridget gets away with the money. Also starring Pleasantville's J.T. Walsh as Frank Griffith, Herb Mitchell as Bob Trotter, Brien Varady as Chris, Dean Norris as Shep, Donna Wilson as Stacy and Mik Scriba as Ray. Pullman gives a good supporting performance as the husband who wants to catch his manipulative wife, Berg is also great as the man who is in a relationship that may never be real, and Nunn has some good small moments as the man helping Pullman catch the wife, but the film of course belongs to Fiorentino who is perfect as the man-eating bitch that you both love and hate at the same time. I will admit some of the story got complicated in moments, with the manipulation stuff, but the almost not real love story element is interesting, the search for the wife and money stuff is cool, and the woman doing everything for herself and the money is sizzling, it is a thriller that should be seen. Very good!