Search - Wild Side on DVD

So patchy that it fails to hang together

Robert J. Crawford | Balmette Talloires, France | 05/13/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Boy am I sorry that I bought this version. I had no idea that so much of it was cut that the story barely makes sense. The characters seem incomplete, some of the best scenes are simply not there, and you get little sense of the geography in which they are operating. Who on Earth would have produced this incomplete version? Who would ever want it this way? Incredible.

As for the acting, Walken and Chen save it, but only to a degree (i.e. not a one-star rating). They are both accomplished actors who can evoke entire personalities and environments in simple gestures and body language, and their characters appear reasonably complete. However, the script is so poor that not even they can get beyond it and so much of it comes off as making less than cogent sense. Heche, unfortunately, is pretty bad, for the most part failing to achieve a coherent and believable character. She is quirkily beautiful and has her moments in the film, but doesn't quite pull it off in a manner of speaking. OK, she is an ambitious young banker in debt to a corrupt boss and she decides to moonlight as a hooker. Steven Bauer is also pretty bad as her dirty-cop antagonist.

The plot is also badly uneven. Not only is there no clever secret to discover - no subtle double entendres or a hidden pattern revealed later - but the sudden transitions of the characters identities make no sense and don't add to the plot. Thus, Heche and Chen "discover" they are in love - it's just there to titilate and comes off as unbelievable and kind of stupid.

Not recommended."

Which version?

J. Scott | 01/02/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I recall seeing this film on cable (HBO or Cinemax) years back. It's silly in spots, smart in others, and I like Christopher Walken in almost anything. But the undeniable eroticism and bravery of the lesbian sex scene between Anne Heche and Joan Chen certainly had the most positive impact. I've since seen a version where this scene is truncated. It's still there, but shorter with less action and ultimately, less impact. From all the reviews I've read of this DVD, I know this is not the longer director's cut and that that version appears to be difficult to come by. (I'm wondering if it is possible that HBO or Max was originally airing the director's cut?) But what I'm unclear about is if this DVD edition contains that scene in its entirety, if it the shorter edit, or if it is in this version at all? I'm hoping someone who knows the film and its edited variations can verify the contents. Thanks."