Product Description

A NEW YORK LAWYER WITH A WIFE AND DAUGHTER SLEEPS WITH A CLIENT WHOSE LUST TURNS TO HATE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5828 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2002-04-16
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
The date movie of the late 1980s, this had everyone arguing in the aisles. Does Michael Douglas deserve the unwanted attention he and his family are receiving at the hands of loony stalker Glenn Close? After a weekend extramarital affair with colleague Close, he returns home to wife Anne Archer, and Close becomes progressively angrier. You might even say she is boiling bunny mad.

Directed by Adrian Lyne, this is not your average thriller, as it garnered six Academy Award nominations. The plot is too obvious, but the dialogue rings true and the intense performances hold the story together. Anne Archer deserves kudos for side-stepping cliché as the strong but frightened wife, and Close is a scream as she chews up the scenery.

The film's original ending, which was reshot after poor preview screenings, has been added to the video release. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews

Girlfriend Ain't RIGHT!!
This film did more for a return to monogomy than any social diseases! I've just re-watched this flick, and it's just as effective as when I first viewed it. Picture a younger Baby Jane Hudson combined with Jaws, and that's pretty much "Alex", Glenn Closes' woman scorned. Michael Douglas, as the typical, successful, arrogant, mid-'80's Yuppie, who, though perfectly nested in a seemingly great marriage to gorgeous, giving, Anne Archer, has to prove he's still a desirable stud by having a "casual" (WRONG!!) fling with Closes' "Alex", a sexy, also seemingly sophisticated associate of his. She initially gives the impression she wants the same thing as he, a "no strings attached" sex-fest, but, after a 24 hour marathon, while wifey is out of town, it begins to become apparent that Alex is becoming just a teensy bit possessive, and when Douglas, as diplomatically as possible, tries to explain to her that he's happily married, and it's dumpster time, Miss Alex IS NOT buying it. The ensuing harassment of he and his family, which starts with pranks from Alex to express her displeasure, turns into a horror-ride that will have your emotions tap dancing faster than Ann Miller!! Some people feel the need to rationalize the entirety of a film, "why'd she do that", that wouldn't happen", etc... not me. With a film like this, it either entertained me, or didn't. Well, this one certainly did. I found all the acting excellant, and the situation not all that unbelievable. Though "over the top", it is a non-stop ride of suspense as Douglas' nightmare (and life) un-folds. I recall there were some copy-cat flicks made shortly after this came out, trying to duplicate what this film has. Well, they didn't succeed, and were soon forgotten. I feel that this film, with its great cast , production, intelligent script, and direction, will not be topped for films of it's kind, and will stand the test of time. It pushes ALL the buttons.

PLAY MISTY FOR ME IS BETTER!
The initial "Fatal Attraction" film, "Play Misty For Me" is loads better than this. This film is not without its merits however. Fine performances by the leads and taut direction with no lulls in the plot! Glenn Close appears very unattractive in this film (but then again, she isn't very attractive especially with that tangled hair). She looks like a psycho. One cannnot understand the motivation behind Douglas's character sleeping with her....especially when he has the gorgeous Anne Archer as his wife!! What man in HIS right mind would want to cheat on someone like her??? There is nothing in the script to justify his infidelity. This makes the story less plausible than it could have been, unlike "Play Misty" which involves a single man with a one night stand that went terribly awry. The ending packs a wallop with Douglas, Archer and Close in the bathtub sequence. It would have been helpful though to find out if Close was really pregnant or not. Psychos are pathological liars and will say anything to further their own purposes. Close succeeds brilliantly on all counts and is a great villainness. The screenplay hits another snag in the sequence where Close (Alex) kidnaps the little girl and takes her to the amusement park. There is nothing to show how this is built up? Does she just show up at the school and take the child? The child would be terrified and there would be cause for concern...unless there was no one around, which is highly unlikely. Or does she show up at the school and beguile the little girl with a story of how she is her mother's friend and her mother asked her to pick her up and take her to the amusement park. None of this is shown. All we see is Close and the little girl riding around in a rollercoaster, the little girl having the time of her life, not the least bit afraid. This would have been all right if it had been properly set up, but it wasn't. Also, if I knew there was pyscho threatning my family I would have warned my child to not talk to any strangers!! This is where the plot falls flat. Plus, didn't home security systems exist in 1987???? Or did they just forget to lock their doors when they went to the grandparents house and Close snuck in and started the rabbit stew?? Totally unbelievable. That's why this film merits only 3 stars from me.

Where's my wedding ring?
Let's face it: we're guys. Wandering eyes. A perceptive inclination to gander at a short skirt, a hint of cleavage, a heart-pounding hip wiggle. I ran smack dab into a door the last time I gawked, but consider myself darn lucky compared to Michael Douglas' character in FATAL ATTRACTION--a white-knuckled "don't-let-this-happen-to-you" thriller that vividly demonstrates what can happen to a guy when he lets other parts of his anatomy do his thinking for him.

Manhattan lawyer Dan Gallagher (Douglas) has it all: successful career, attractive wife, loving daughter. So why not have an extramarital fling with a woman he met at a party while the family is out of town? Sure. Just a one-night stand. No harm, no foul. But there's something very "foul" about Dan's partner in crime, because blonde Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) may have all the right moves in the sack, but she also has an elevator that doesn't go all the way to the top. So when Dan wants to shake hands and part company, Alex will have none of it, and the table is set for a one-way ticket to Looney Land.

Let the stalking. . .the suspense. . .the thrills and chills. . .begin. The bathroom scene, in which Dan's frazzled wife Beth (Anne Archer) wipes the steam off the mirror, is worth the price of purchase of this video alone.

Director Adrian Lyne (as usual) delivers a gripping, antacid-popping story. The only positive in FATAL ATTRACTION was the fact all this bad stuff happened to an attorney. Like, how sad. I'd like to write more, but I hear the wife calling--something about all the hair in the sink. Don't want to get her riled.
--D. Mikels