Never Talk to Strangers, 1995

Never Talk to Strangers, 1995
Director: Peter Hall
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Rebecca De Mornay, Dennis Miller



Stage: Home TV selection, late Friday night

Never talk to Strangers in short: Sarah Taylor, a police psychologist, meets a mysterious and seductive young man, Tony Ramirez, and falls in love with him. As a cause of this relationship she changes her personality when she begins to receive anonymous telefon calls.


Preps: None.. I am home and don't have anything more perspective at that second to watch. I don't decide for one of the heavy drama movies that are waiting for me. I figure I will be relaxed by something with Banderas, he's a true lure for this piece.


Reality: Hm. I think it's a good TV movie. Not a real movie. It reminds me somehow on the Basic Instinct, however, it's far from being that sharp. But we do have a psychologist and a villain (ok, there we had a cop) and a romantic sexual affair, which turns out into something dangerous (possibly life threathening) for person involved. In Basic, it was a cop with a former mistress, here we have a doctor who gets intimidating calls, her cat gets murdered, she suspects her new hot boyfriend and almost gets killed..
The storyline is interesting and it could be printed out to be one of the best detective crime novels ever. But in the shape of the movie it simply doesn't work really well. In a sense, that I don't see the passion between the two main characters, which means they also don't give me energy to see them work together. The script is below expectations, the energy isn't there and in some way, I cannot even watch it. It doesn't really interest me, what is going to happen. It doesn't hold my interest.
Banderas obviously looks yummy, but we are far from the time when a cute character instantly made the movie a good one. The same goes for Rebecca de Mornay. Something is seriously lacking in this one.
Still, some good scenes with the nosy neighbour, who I like. The character and the delivery, I mean. The director could have seen these two (with Rebecca) have more potential than Banderas and de Mornay. So, in my view, this piece is a fail. A psychological thriller wannabe.


My personal rating: 3,0 (some sparks going on, but nothing more. No story, no scenes, no energy. I am dissappointed).


Never talk on IMDB