Jamie
Given the state of erotic thrillers I presume at some point we will burn through them all (at least the major releases) and be considered some kind of experts. Putting on my glasses (as I do before watching any erotic thriller… for science) I think the key to a successful erotic thriller is this: an attractive man who also can come across a little smarmy to stand opposite your extremely hot lady. Redford is interesting in that role because I don’t know if he’d think he was coming off smarmy, but obviously in this film as he throws around money and buys up real estate trying to have sex with Demi Moore it comes off as strange and off putting. He’s no Michael Douglas, but he’s closer than he thinks. I only note this because along these lines Wild Orchid fails… note that I said the man has to be a “little” smarmy… just a little. Hear that Mr. Rourke?
To recap, Diana and David are IN LOVE. He’s an architect and she’s a real estate agent, but a downturn in the housing market (exciting) leaves them teetering on the edge of losing their unfinished dream house. They head to Vegas where they risk it all and win!… and then like a couple of dummies also lose it all. A charming(ish?) super rich dude, John Gage, takes a liking to Diana and after a whirlwind night of being his good luck charm at craps and getting their stay paid for he offers them a proposal. And let me tell you, this proposal is not decent. He wants to sleep with Diana (gasp). David is like “No!” Diana is like “Wellll.” Ultimately they draw up a contract and off she goes. Returning home a million dollars richer they find that Gage did a totally normal thing and bought their dream house from under them. Ultimately this leads to their life falling apart. Gage returns to the scene and pursues a real relationship with Diana. She’s like “No!” but eventually is like “Wellllll…” Now David falls apart alone. After hitting rock bottom he finds his bootstraps there keeping him company. He decides to pull himself up by them and becomes a teacher. Eventually he finds Gage and Diana at a zoo benefit and donates the whole one million dollars to the charity (are you insane?! Build the house!) and agrees to a divorce. Diana is like “Yes!” but eventually is like “Welllll…” and knowing that he’s lost her, Gage makes up a story about being real smarmy (you know, cause he’s not actually smarmy) and Diana gratefully accepts, rushes to be with David, and they smooch hard by the ocean. THE END.
I liked this. Despite all the parts of it that sounds gross and terrible and creepy, it really is a straight romance about David and Diana being in love, hitting a rough patch, and then having a crazy journey back to realizing that they are meant to be together. It feels like critics really turned on this film because the expectation of Indecent Proposal is a thriller or something really crazy like Wild Orchid where it comes off like a cartoon. This doesn’t come off like a cartoon. It comes off like Sabrina, but with someone offering money for sex. So there is this big hullabaloo over the proposal itself, but the content of the film doesn’t deliver on that controversy and it made people angry. Even the controversy itself hasn’t aged well. The film actually has an interesting and arguably progressive view on women’s rights. Like both Gage and David treat Diana like their property. David legally, Gage financially. Diana is like “Nah, I get to choose,” and you can think it’s morally wrong that she would accept money for sex with this rich dude, but in the end she does get to decide. And most importantly she isn’t ruined by that choice.
Hot Take Clam Bake! The moment after the credits roll Diana pulls away from the smooch and is like “you didn’t really give away the money for the hippo, right?” and David is like “Wellll…” So David is in deep shit with her. Divorce is on the table again. What is an architect to do? Aha! He goes to the zoo and is like “I love this hippo I gave a million dollars to, I would like to build it a house.” they are like whatever, it’s your hippo. He builds a house and no one can see the hippo and there is a sign outside that says: “This hippo was bought with a million dollar my wife earned by having sex with John Gage.” Now people want to see that goddamn million dollar hippo. “$10” David says. A year later he’s got that million back and more. Diana is not super thrilled, but at least she got the money she earned. Hot Take Temperature: Wild Orchid.
Patrick?
Patrick
‘Ello everyone! *gif of me trying to convince my wife that erotic thrillers are totally cool and not at all creepy and gross* Let’s go!
Right off the bat: this is a good movie.
And I mean that even outside of Demi Moore at exactly this point in time might be one of the most attractive women ever. Like, the movie is very silly, but also interesting and genuinely good for the most part.
I don’t think it is like … an Oscar film. Harrelson is a weenie throughout the film. Redford is a creep throughout the film. Moore is for the most part a normal human being throughout the film and seems like she just loves Harrelson and will do anything for him and he just goes fucking bananas in a nonsensical way.
Anyways, the good? Redford is good at being a creep. It offers a weird but interesting proposition (that honestly only really works in the 90s) that you would think about. The thing about it in the end is that I think a lot more people in the 2020s would be like: don’t care. If my wife could move past it and it was for like $25 million or something I would do it in a heartbeat. Not me specifically, I just mean that there are a lot more people who would just slam dunk that proposal. They’d probably basically go back for seconds and be like “hey can we have more money?” So the proposal isn’t really indecent by today’s standards. It is more like an Intriguing Proposal.
Also Oliver Platt is incredible in the film. Very funny in a perfectly response-to-the-80s-greed kind of way.
The bad? Harrelson is a total dweeb and goes clinically insane during the film. The most insecure weirdo. This is a trend in 90s films though. Remember Message in a Bottle? Literally, women looking at Kevin Costner barely talking and them being like “oh shit he’s so broken. Is this the sexiest a man can be?” Harrelson is a prototype of that. Like “Oh shit, this guy is the most jealous weird possessive garbage man of all time … yes please, I love you so much, husband material right there”. That is the main issue.
As far as BMT is concerned, the issue is the film is good! There is no way it gets into BMT because the film is too good. It is entertaining. Demi Moore is devastatingly attractive. Redford is a solid creep. Too good.
I’m going with a kind of Product Placement (What?) for the Thierry Mugler dress that gets all the guys going in the film. Great Setting as a Character (Where?) for Las Vegas where all you nightmares can come true. I actually like this for a Specific Temporal Setting (When?) just for just how late-80s/early-90s recession vibes it gives. Let’s go with a MacGuffin (Why?) for the pursuit of those underwater mortgage payments. And a Worst Twist (How?) for the throwing away the money and meeting on a pier for love ending. This movie is Good though, it is not BMT.
Learn about … lust I guess? In the quiz. Cheerios,
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