Consenting Adults is a forgotten obscurity that I watched because of an interest in the director, Alan J. Pakula. Pakula directed one of top twenty-five favorite films of all time, the uber-masterpiece drama Sophie's Choice, although he's most commonly known for his thrillers, like All the President's Men and The Pelican Brief.
I have to be honest here, in terms of quality, this movie only rises to the level of "good" and not any higher. Still, I think that this is one of the most interesting movies that I have seen in a long time, soley because of Pakula's directoral technique.
Narrativley, we have all seen this movie a million times. Set in Atlanta, the film stars Kevin Kline as Richard Parker, a composer of TV jingles seemingly happily married to Priscilla (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). His life takes an odd turn when he meets his quirky new co-habiting neighbors Eddie (Kevin Spacey) and Kay (Rebecca Miller). For a while, life becomes exciting for Richard, until Eddie makes an odd proposal - they each have sex with each other's woman while they are half asleep. What happens next should not be surprising...but it was (nope, I'm not reavealing it).
This movie is so well directed I did not realize even what genre it belonged to. The movie still remains interesting even after the climax, which is just plain rediculous. I cannot resist the urge to bring up the old argument and say that I think this proves my point about the autuer theory, and film being a mostly visual as opposed a mostly narrative medium. This screenplay is completly generic, but Pakula's visuals and editing really make it unique. Although most of the acting is only acceptable, I should say that Forrest Whitaker (strangely, the only person in to use a Southern accent in a movie set in Georgia) and particularly Mastrantionio are excellent.
So you're not going to find a great movie here, but you'll find a useful one if you want direct a film. If I am ever forced to use a lousy script written by some hack in my carreer, I can just consult Consenting Adults, and see how to auteur myself on to it.
Consenting Adult (1985)