- 1991movierewind
Episode #80: Sweet Poison
Listen to Episode 80 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.
SUMMARY - Sweet Poison tells the story of the prisoner Bobby Samms (played by Steven Bauer) who escapes from a bus crash and abducts a husband and wife to help him escape. The couple’s relationship is already on shaky ground and Charlene (played by Patricia Healy) seems to be enjoying the crimes Bobby forces her to commit a little too much.
Screenplay by Walter Klenhard; Directed by Brian Grant; and released on June 12, 1991.
FILM DISCUSSION
The movie starts off with some...hot and heavy??... action. It's a weird sex scene that's meant to set the tone.
There are some laughable moments, such as the circumstances surrounding the prison bus crash
It really tries to do the erotic thriller thing, but doesn't get the thriller stuff totally right.
To be honest, some of the erotic stuff was pretty dang awkward too. Sweet seaweed swimming.
Or it had contextual elements that takes away from the sexiness.
It would have been great if Charlene's character was written smarter, but she's an easily duped, naïve young woman.
And her husband is a condescending dick a lot of the time
Anyway, when there is action, it's impactful and appropriately crunchy.
And it helps to forgive the stupid decisions by the characters and the many opportunities they had to get help.
The subplot with the cop going on an unapproved manhunt (and doing better than the rest of the force) was good because of the solid acting from character actor Pruitt Taylor Vince
Even though the movie has a lot of problems, it is overall quite the fun ride. A tighter script with some better characterization of the leads would have made this fantastic.
Awards Talk: None to speak of this time.
TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE
This week we don't have any true crime and we've covered a lot of the week's music, so we're getting into a bunch of TV stuff
On this day, the Chicago Bulls beat the LA Lakers for their first of six championships.
If you weren't watching that, perhaps you were watching the 1991 International Rock Awards
Here's Leslie Nielsen introducing The Scorpions
And here he is introducing The Doobie Brothers
Of course, for our "USA Up All Night" month, we're talking about 1-900 Numbers. This week we're looking at The Singles Connection
RANKINGS & RATINGS
Nikki 1-5 star scale - 2 out of 5
Jon 0-4 star scale - 2 1/2 out of 4
Would you watch it again? - It was a surprisingly enjoyable movie, but this "erotic thriller" was still a little lackluster in both the erotic and thriller departments. So, while we were entertained the whole time, neither of us would seek it out and we would rather try one of the many others in the genre first.
If you want to watch Sweet Poison, as of this recording in September 2022, it’s available on VHS. Check your local listings.
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