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Extremities (1986)* 1/2 (out of 4)A woman (Farrah Fawcett) is attacked by a would be rapist but manages to get away before any serious harm can be done. A week later the attacker (James Russo) shows up at her home to finish the job but soon the woman turns the tables on him. That's a pretty simple set up for this psychological drama that comes off as a major disappointment. I had heard how terrific the original play was and how wonderful Fawcett was in it but this adaptation is a complete disaster that is poorly directed and features some questionable acting. I'll start with the direction which is just a complete horrid mess. There isn't a single thing in this movie that manages to have any emotion. None of the characters are believable and even worse is that we're never given anything to feel from start to finish. The opening attack sequence is meant to be full of suspense but it isn't. Fawcett's "fear" is meant to be dramatic but it isn't. The terror she's living in is meant to be dramatic but never is. Then when the cat and mouse game begins we're suppose to feel this psychological drama of the two characters going back and forth yet we never feel this. I've seen exploitation rape/revenge movies that have more emotion than this thing and that's pretty sad. I wouldn't place all the blame on the director because the cast has to take some of the heat for these horrid performances. Fawcett must have lost whatever she had in the play because she gives a one-note performance here and really comes off looking bad. Not once did I believe the shock her character was going through or anything else she was suppose to be portraying. Russo is just as bad as the rapist and Alfre Woodard and Diane Scarwid come off pretty poorly as well. This is all rather shocking because all four have proved that they can give good performance so why they're so incredibly bad here doesn't make any sense. The movie never really knows what it wants to do as it throws out so many mixed messages of rape, revenge and countless other items that are thrown out there only to slowly die off or be replaced by the next thought that the film tries to explain. A poor film all around and a real disappointment.
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