This ain’t no morality play. As with director Dahl’s earlier work (Kill Me Again, Red Rock West), The Last Seduction is a noir-type thriller with dry humor and some pretty ruthless characters. Linda Fiorentino plays Bridget Gregory as a trajectory of sexual energy and raw power intent on her own agenda. Bridget shares a too-small New York apartment with her husband Clay (Pullman), a young medical resident who pads their paychecks with money earned from supplying strung-out punks with illegal prescriptions for assorted “soft” drugs. After pulling off a drug deal that gives them enough cash to purchase a penthouse apartment, Clay thinks they’re set. But Bridget has better things in mind, including making off with the loot and leaving Clay behind in the apartment she detests. Bridget’s flight is stymied when her lawyer (Walsh) advises her to “stay put” in order to initiate divorce proceedings and bargain with Clay to retain most of the money. She finds herself in Beston, a suburb outside of Buffalo that she likens to Mayberry, R.F.D. With her Donna Karan business suits and her don’t-fuck-with-me attitude, she charms Mike Swale (Berg), a Bestonite who wants to escape the confines of small-town life. Known in Beston as Wendy Kroy (a loose anagram of “New York” which results from one of Bridget’s more innocuous skills — writing backwards), Bridget sees Mike only as a “designated fuck” and a pawn in her grander scheme. Mike envisions Bridget/Wendy as a seductive ball-breaker with domestic goddess potential. Dahl employs his trademark absurd humor in an interesting role reversal sequence: Through a series of acrobatic love scenes, we listen to Bridget/Wendy gleefully deny the existence of their relationship while Mike implores her to commit to one. The gritty sex scenes are often juxtaposed with wry humor, but a final sexual encounter between Mike and Bridget/Wendy is quite unsettling in its sadistic tone. While violation is the concept that Dahl intends in this scene, its inclusion is a bit jarring within the context of the characters’ other sexual encounters. In general, though, The Last Seduction is a carefully constructed thriller whose clever dialogue keeps pace with its fascinating lead actress. Fiorentino (After Hours, Queen’s Logic) usually plays women with an attitude, but in Dahl’s film she is stripped bare, all id and no superego. Bridget is one of those people who delivers the zinger on her way out the door rather than thinking of it after the fact. The character is gutsy — thrilling to watch as she impales everyone else on her stiletto heels. Though not necessarily a role model, the character is a cathartic outlet for any pent-up aggression. Fiorentino’s performance and screenwriter Steve Barancik’s tightly-coiled narrative provide a riveting look at desire, sex, and theft in the big city.
This article appears in November 18 • 1994 (Cover).