Search - Consenting Adults on DVD

Runs Out of Steam and Logic

Andrew Merkevicius | 01/24/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This movie started out great the way it established the growing friendship between two very different couples and then moved into a murder mystery. The acting was first-rate (with the exception of Rebecca Miller -- can we say boring?) but then the plot defied logic. For example: Kevin Kline's character doesn't realize that he is not having sex with the neighbor's wife but with a "stand-in"? When Kevin Spacey's character confirms his wife's death in Savannah with the police, the police do not think to ask: "Hey, didn't you already report her death a few months ago?" Further, it is completely unrealistic that a shattered Kevin Kline's wife would have so immediately taken up with Kevin Spacey. By the time the film ended, it felt like a comedy, it was so ridiculous!"

Consenting Adults

Andrew Merkevicius | Nebraska | 07/02/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Not a bad first half, up through the murder. But when Kevin Kline's character was released on bond, that's pretty much when it fell through the roof. I've never heard of somebody making bail when they are facing life in prison or the death sentence. And then being able to go anywhere you want? Even on bail, you can't leave the city. But yet he was able to sneak around, travel to Savannah, spy on his rival, all without any hindrance from the police. I pretty much figured out why the neighbor replaced his wife with a "stand-in". He needed somebody to drive the cigarette boat to prove he was out on the lake; but what I don't understand is why he allowed her to leave unharmed when all was said and done. Not only that, you would think both the police and the insurance company would have done a better job at the investigation, especially when 1.5 mil was on the line. I'm not sure about anybody else, but regardless if the police think they have the right man or not, if money is on the line they usually investigate all ends before making their decision."

"Come to Papa."

Kona | Emerald City | 11/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite its suggestive title, this is actually a mystery/thriller and a very good one. Richard and Priscilla are a happily-married couple who have new neighbors, Eddy and Kay. Eddy is a bit unscrupulous and a little strange, yet he works very hard to establish a tight friendship with Richard. Richard is shocked when Eddy suggests a wife-swap, but later thinks it might be fun.

The first half is a rather typical suburban-marriage story, but before you know it, BAM! It turns into a scary murder story with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. Kevin Kline gives a strong performance as mild-mannered Richard who thinks the grass is greener next door, but Kevin Spacey steals the show, as usual. He plays overly-friendly Eddy, gradually becoming the kind of raving psychopath that Spacey plays so well.

There are many plot holes that make the story more than a little far-fetched, but still I enjoyed it and recommend it for those who like thrillers."

Main character is too despicable to root for

Elisabeth | 04/02/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is a story of a man (played by Kevin Kline) who, on the surface, appears like a happy man, but internally feels discontent. This feeling becomes exacerbated when he sees his new neighbor (played by Kevin Spacey) leading this adventurous, carefree life and also by his immediate sexual attraction towards Spacey's wife.

One day, Spacey tells Kline he knows Kline is attracted to his wife. Before Kline can protest, Spacey says it's okay and offers Kline a deal. Spacey says Kline can have sex with his wife just as long as Spacey can also have sex with Kline's wife.

But there's a catch.

Instead of asking for the wives' consent in having sex with these men, these men are just going to take sex from them. Here's the plan that Spacey proposes....when their wives are sound asleep, both men will sneak out of their houses, go into each neighbor's house, wake up the neighbor's wife, have sex with her, and then sneak back into bed with their own wives. Since the lights will be kept off, each wife will assume she's having sex with her own husband.

And Kline accepts the deal!! And it's not like he didn't have any chances to back out of this deal either...in the scene where he sneaks into Spacey's house, there's a big staircase he has to climb before he's even able to get into the woman's bedroom. All that time, climbing all those stairs, could've given him a chance to grow a conscience, but instead he continues the climb and performs the act.

It's bad enough this man has sex with another woman without his wife's consent (or this woman's consent either)...but to also lend his wife's body to another man, like she was a prostitute (but a non-consentual one), makes this man one of the most despicable lead characters I've ever seen! And since neither woman consented to this sexual arrangement, technically this is rape.

The next morning, a guilt-ridden Kline tells his wife he loves her and I guess I'm supposed to believe him because he looks so sad when he says it...but I don't. If I had a husband who ever pulled a stunt like that, not only would I never believe he ever loved me, not only would I immediately divorce him, but I'd also press rape charges against both of these men.
And yet, in the end, when his wife finds out the real truth, she forgives him right away as if his betrayal was about as offensive as him forgetting her birthday.

We the audience, too, are just supposed to forget this betrayal while Kline is out trying to solve a murder that incriminates him and just be happy the murder gets solved and he ends up back with his wife. That didn't happen for me. This character was just too dispicable to root for. And although I thought the movie was suspenseful, I thought the way the murder gets wrapped up in the end was nonsensical.
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