Rent The Hot Spot (1990)

Very watchable - The Hot Spot review by SB

This film, set in small town desert America, is a sort of knowing tribute to film noir and B movies, adopting many of their cliches. But it is still good to watch, especially the more languorous first half in which the atmosphere of place is carefully established and the few main characters sketched in. The second half, which is full of sexual and violent action of various sorts, does occasionally strain credibility, though there is a fight scene which is unusually well staged. The period feel is well done, and Don Johnson is good as the cool, dishonest but essentially innocent male lead role. Virginia Madsen is appropriately outrageous as the sexy manipulative wife who likes people to dance to her tune, but a very young Jennifer Connelly is the heart of this film, doomed to disappointment but still full of possibilities.

Surprisingly good - The Hot Spot review by Swambi

This exceeded my expectations, making good viewing. It is well filmed, well acted, and the music good. The plot is rather variable, with some rather unbelievable elements, but overall the quality of the film tends to compensate for this.

The plot revolves around the machinations of three people, who are evil in different ways: Frank Sutton, Harry Maddox and Dolly Harshaw. Frank is torn between Dolly and Gloria Harper, and his relationship with the two women progresses in very different ways. With Gloria it is an innocent romance, whilst with Dolly it is sex. Frank's propebsity for violent and immoral actions lead to a downward spiral, but the outcome is unclear until the end.

There are a couple of un-necessarily violent and unpleant scenes, which could be unsettling, but otherwise above average for this genre.