9 1/2 Weeks
They broke every rule.
Elizabeth (Academy Award winner Kim Basinger) is a Soho gallery worker, romantically uninvolved since a painful divorce. John (Mickey Rourke) is a wealthy commodities broker, emotionally alone no matter who he's with. A chance meeting draws them into each other's worlds. Obsession takes them further into a mutual world of eroticism and emotional awakenings.
With visual flair, director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, 1998's Lolita) explores extremes of passion and surrender in 9 1/2 Weeks, presented in an expanded version with footage not seen in U.S. theatrical release. Passion fades. But something John and Elizabeth will always carry inside is the impact of their 9 1/2 Weeks.
Member Reviews
Painfully Uninteresting - Dread
First... The backstory...
My wife and I occasionally spend our Saturday nights opening a bottle of wine or two (or three) and watching movies. We also talk for hours about our favorite movies and actors/actresses. One night, we got talking about Mickey Rourke.
We like Mickey. We talked about how he should have won an Academy Award for The Wrestler. We talked about his boxing career. We then talked about his earlier films and that's what caused us to add 9 1/2 Weeks to our ZipList. The movie, based on everything that we'd heard, was supposed to be great and we wanted to check it out.
Unfortunately... The short story that I've just told you is more interesting than the movie itself. The plot is ultimately generic and the characters are banal. I genuinely can't think of anything positive to say about the film. I really can't. We struggled to get through it and were left feeling pretty unsatisfied.
I'm sure that this movie was shocking and scandalous in 1986, but in 2011, it's just painfully uninteresting.Pretty darn good - RayneeDeigh
I've always wanted to see this movie since it's referenced so much in pop culture. Now that I finally have, I'm glad I did! It's a great film about chemistry, dysfunction, and power/control in relationships. Think of it as a pre-Secretary portrayal of the same topic, and you'll be entertained. Expect a deeper meaning behind it, and you'll likely be disappointed.Not worth the attention it got - eoguy
This film is an exercise in banality compared to the book, a modern day erotic masterpiece. The main flaw of 9 1/2 WEEKS lies in its failure to grasp the subtlety and essence of the original story, let alone bring it to the screen. The book so subtly seduces the unnamed heroine - and the reader - into its essence, the gradual decline into decadence, that one scarcely notices crossing the line. But the adulteration of the story is not the only defect of this film. Mickey Roarke usually tends to come off as a thug, with variations on the theme: the clever thug, the decent thug, the sick thug, the slick thug, the rich, manipulative thug - but always a thug, nevertheless. His innate inability to portray finesse and refinement made him a very poor choice for the role of the polished, cultured, professionally successful dilettante dabbling in decidedly deviant sex. (See Christian Bale in his outstanding performance as the AMERICAN PSYCHO: though something of a ýcomic booký type character, the psycho possesses an inherent veneer of respectability that belies the twisted kink underneath.) Basinger is, as always, lovely to behold, but does not convey the vulnerability of a woman who could be so easily sucked into the bizarre relationship that vividly comes to life on the printed page, but utterly fails to do so in this extremely disappointing movie.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Painfully Uninteresting - Dread
First... The backstory...
My wife and I occasionally spend our Saturday nights opening a bottle of wine or two (or three) and watching movies. We also talk for hours about our favorite movies and actors/actresses. One night, we got talking about Mickey ...Pretty darn good - RayneeDeigh
I've always wanted to see this movie since it's referenced so much in pop culture. Now that I finally have, I'm glad I did! It's a great film about chemistry, dysfunction, and power/control in relationships. Think of it as a pre-Secretary portrayal of the ...Not worth the attention it got - eoguy
This film is an exercise in banality compared to the book, a modern day erotic masterpiece. The main flaw of 9 1/2 WEEKS lies in its failure to grasp the subtlety and essence of the original story, let alone bring it to the screen. The book so subtly seduces ...