Intersection

Someone should have roadblocked this Intersection. It's hard to work up much steam about this story about talented and successful architect Vincent (Gere) unable to choose between his frosty wife and business partner Sally (Stone) and his voluptuous lover and playmate Olivia (Davidovich). Some of us have it tough in this world and others of us, simply, do not. Sally represents the stability of the past, Olivia the romance of the future. Both appeal to Victor… duh. Apart from their divergent interest/disinterest in sex, it seems to me that the main way Vincent tells them apart is by the way they are lit: blonde ice queen Stone is lit from the front for an pristine, alabaster look; red-headed girlfriend Davidovich is lit from behind for a sensuous, dappled effect. It also seems as though the filmmakers scored well in Symbolism 101. Vincent's career in architecture is carefully pointed out to us as indicative of the way he also tries to “construct” his life and as an explanation of how he has arrived at this particular “intersection.” He has an epiphany when he sees a red-headed little Shirley Temple-like moppet that reminds him of Olivia. Then, for a dose of irony, the film throws in an open-ended conclusion that erroneously leaves both women satisfied. But Intersection's most unforgivable mistake is in its illogical editing. The movie starts out with a car crash, then the rest of the movie functions as a flashback that explains everything leading up to the crash. Then we get to see the crash again, but this time in more detail. The flashbacks jump all over the place, criss-crossing years and events and become such confusing flashbacks-within-flashbacks that it becomes a struggle to actually follow this otherwise simple plot. And of all the things this movie might or might not aspire to be, “difficult to follow,” I'm certain, is not one of them.