Women & Men: Stories of Seduction [VHS]

These 3 short pieces were unexpectedly excellent. The actors involved are - of course - stars, but the title suggests sexy late-night viewing. They are about seduction, but they are also about how to realize a short story on the screen and how bring a character fully to life in a few minutes. The first two pieces have stuck in my mind ever since I first saw them, especially the second.In the first piece, Beau Bridges is a smooth, sleazy traveling salesman on the make. If he didn't make the character so damned likeable, the piece wouldn't work. Elizabeth McGovern does her innocent, unsophisticated girl perfectly, and the piece becomes a dance with a predictable result. It is so well done, and so quickly paced, that it is fun to watch, despite that predictability.The "Hills Like White Elephants," an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway, starring Melanie Griffith & James Woods, took my breath away. Melanie Griffith has done her share of cute, lisping roles, but her work in this piece, especially given Hemingway's general lack of interest in his female characters, is just amazing. James Woods is always intense, but he was matched, almost blown off the screen, by Griffith. It was a revelation.As an actor, I have recommended this film to those who want to see some outstanding acting in an intense and rarely seen short form. For those that have said that Melanie Griffith is just "cute" and not that much of an actress, I prescribe the second story.

The second of these three films in this anthology is a clever adaptation of Hemingway's famous short story. The screenwriters (Didion and Dunne)turn Hemingway's own short story against him. Their ploy is to present the film as an accurate representation of a brief moment in time and to intimate that Hemingway's short story is, to some extent, an unfaithful--or, at least, incomplete--account of the actual event. It does this marvelous inversion by hinting that the male lead is Hemingway and then having the Melanie Griffith character say, in effect, that "you are going to make a story about this, aren't you, and you're going to change everything around." Touche! Literature, in this act of gamesmanship, becomes an inaccurate representation of "reality" (i.e., the film itself) and Hemingway is the victim of this comic-satiric thrust.The other two short films are fine, but "Hills" prevails as a cinematic coup.

This collection of HBO Showcase Presents stories from 1990 form an interesting if not always successful collage examining relationships in a not too flattering light. It is interesting to see actors as they appeared and acted 22 years ago and compare them to their current standards. The stories are each necessarily brief but for all that they do manage to flesh out characters with whom we can identify, if not form personal comparisons then certainly with people we have observed.Mary McCarthy's `The Man in the brooks Brothers Suit' is a train ride in the 1940's where a self indulged businessman (Beau Bridges) attempts an succeeds in seducing a Leftist reporter (Elizabeth McGovern) whose political and philosophical leanings are drowned in liquor and she enters into an affair with a capitalist man she knows will not last: empty pledges of love quite expectedly dissolve. Director: Frederick Raphael.Dorothy Parker's very dry and boring `Dusk Before Fireworks' pairs a lothario (Peter Weller) with one of is many women (Molly Ringwald) in a 1920s setting of a decadently art nouveau apartment with the chief enemy being a telephone constantly ringing with messages from other lovers disquieting the planned evening of passion. Director: Ken RussellErnest Hemingway's `Hills Like White Elephants' is the finest of the three, a tale from 1925 that takes place in a train depot in Spain where an author (seemingly Hemingway) James Woods is attempting to console a beautiful young lady (Melanie Griffith) that the decision of having an abortion of a pregnancy resulting from their union is a matter of choice for the woman. These two fine actors in a few minutes make an age-old decision situation come to life with their illuminating performances. Director: Tony RichardsonSomewhere hidden in the background are Kyra Sedgwick and Ray Liotta. The musical score is by the much-missed Marvin Hamlish. The trio of stories is worth watching for the presence of the actors and for the solid presentation of the Hemingway piece, possibly because of the adaptation by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunn! Grady Harp, August 12

The made-for-TVer WOMEN & MEN: STORIES OF SEDUCTION offers a wealth of talent both in front of and behind the camera.Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" is directed by Tony Richardson, "The Man In The Brooks Brothers Suit" from Mary McCarthy is handled by Frederic Raphael, while Ken Russell takes the reins for Dorothy Parker's "Dusk Before Fireworks." Adaptations by Valerie Curtin, Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. Musical score: Marvin Hamlisch.In "Hills," a pregnant woman is urged by her lover to abort."Brooks Brothers" concerns a woman's chance encounter with a wealthy businessman."Dusk" tells of a gal's frustration when she and her gigolo lover are constantly disturbed by phone calls from his other lady friends.Related items:The  WOMEN AND MEN DOUBLE FEATURE  DVD features "Stories of Seduction" along with its sequel, "In Love There Are No Rules."Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 IMDb viewer poll rating.(5.1) Women & Men: Stories of Seduction (TV-1990) - Beau Bridges/Melanie Griffith/Ray Liotta/Elizabeth McGovern/Molly Ringwald/Kyra Sedgwick/Peter Weller/James Woods