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Alone With A Stranger
New Concorde // R // October 9, 2001
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE STRAIGHT DOPE:
To be honest, the only reason I wanted to watch Alone With A Stranger is because Mindy Cohn has a small role in it. Mindy, you may remember, played Natalie in The Facts of Life, that fabulous 80's sitcom that has recently entered into constant rotation on Nick at Nite. Unfortunately, Mindy's Alone With A Stranger role is limited to the best friend who pops in a couple of times to show off her new car and offer a few words of encouragement. The movie itself is one of the evil twin melodramas that Lifetime has built its foundations on and that keeps lots of great 80's actresses off the welfare line. In fact, in addition to Cohn, Alone With A Stranger employs Nia Peeples and Priscilla Barnes, Suzanne Sommers' Three's Company replacement. The main characters, however, are played by Barbara Niven and William R. Moses. Moses plays the erratic Edward Kennington, a cold business guy whose wife Sandy (Niven) is starting to crack from the lack of affection. Sandy carries an additional burden since she killed their young daughter in a car accident (replayed in a hilarious flashback). Suddenly, it appears as if Edward is having an affair with 80's popstar Nia Peeples and is stalking his own wife. He even murders her shrink. What's going on? Well, if you read the back of the box you already know: It turns out that Ed's long-lost twin brother, Max (also Moses), is a psycho lunatic who wants to steal Ed's life and his perfect wife and then make off with all of Ed's hard-earned money. Ed ends up locked in Max's basement while Max, armed with information from a ridiculously high-tech surveillance of the Kennington household, assumes his identity. Beth (Peeples) gets mad when Max jumps at the opportunity to get busy with Sandy, meanwhile Sandy and the son have no clue. The implausibility of this set up, of course, shouldn't prevent anyone from enjoying the film for what it is: A completely trashy schlockfest. There are so many weird touches (the subplot involving Barnes and another about a tough guy gangster out to get Max and Beth go absolutely nowhere) that the film almost plays like an Edgar G. Ulmer trash noir epic like Detour. What can you say about a movie that features a grown man trying to shove a young boy's hand down a garbage disposal, or that features Max spouting lines like "She was a whore. Queen of the $20 blowjobs" (about his mother) and "Thursday doesn't work for me" (on why he killed a shrink immediately after scheduling an appointment)? As far as the acting goes, it is appropriately hysterical. Moses does create his two characters with some distinction, although there is also plenty of that lowered-face, raised-eyes glowering too. If only he had a mustache to twirl. Peeples is a bit grating as the constantly complaining Beth, but Niven's performance has a sweetness to it which helps explain her inability to realize that her husband is not really her husband. Incidentally, her tragic performance in Alone With A Stranger spurred me to do a little research on Niven (I love those put-upon wife roles!) and I found her own official web-site, which is extremely entertaining for anyone with a sense of camp. She's got photos of her fans (all of whom seems to be in the military) and of her dogs, as well as information about her history with eating disorders. Barbara, where have you been all my life? Ultimately, however, there is no reason to own Alone With A Stranger on DVD. It could make a good party disc, but really you could just wait for it, or any other insane stalker twin movie, to come on Lifetime. VIDEO:
The full-frame video is fine. The colors are a little dull and the cinematography is nothing to write home about, but there aren't any problems with the video quality. AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is also serviceable. No subtitles are available. EXTRAS:
There are no extras. FINAL THOUGHTS:
It seems silly to buy Alone With a Stranger on DVD. This is perfect insomniac cable viewing. Still, there is something energetic and unpredictable about it. Granted, part of that unpredictability comes from having characters taking ridiculous out-of-left-field actions with no warning, but what do you want? E-mail Gil at [email protected]
To be honest, the only reason I wanted to watch Alone With A Stranger is because Mindy Cohn has a small role in it. Mindy, you may remember, played Natalie in The Facts of Life, that fabulous 80's sitcom that has recently entered into constant rotation on Nick at Nite. Unfortunately, Mindy's Alone With A Stranger role is limited to the best friend who pops in a couple of times to show off her new car and offer a few words of encouragement. The movie itself is one of the evil twin melodramas that Lifetime has built its foundations on and that keeps lots of great 80's actresses off the welfare line. In fact, in addition to Cohn, Alone With A Stranger employs Nia Peeples and Priscilla Barnes, Suzanne Sommers' Three's Company replacement. The main characters, however, are played by Barbara Niven and William R. Moses. Moses plays the erratic Edward Kennington, a cold business guy whose wife Sandy (Niven) is starting to crack from the lack of affection. Sandy carries an additional burden since she killed their young daughter in a car accident (replayed in a hilarious flashback). Suddenly, it appears as if Edward is having an affair with 80's popstar Nia Peeples and is stalking his own wife. He even murders her shrink. What's going on? Well, if you read the back of the box you already know: It turns out that Ed's long-lost twin brother, Max (also Moses), is a psycho lunatic who wants to steal Ed's life and his perfect wife and then make off with all of Ed's hard-earned money. Ed ends up locked in Max's basement while Max, armed with information from a ridiculously high-tech surveillance of the Kennington household, assumes his identity. Beth (Peeples) gets mad when Max jumps at the opportunity to get busy with Sandy, meanwhile Sandy and the son have no clue. The implausibility of this set up, of course, shouldn't prevent anyone from enjoying the film for what it is: A completely trashy schlockfest. There are so many weird touches (the subplot involving Barnes and another about a tough guy gangster out to get Max and Beth go absolutely nowhere) that the film almost plays like an Edgar G. Ulmer trash noir epic like Detour. What can you say about a movie that features a grown man trying to shove a young boy's hand down a garbage disposal, or that features Max spouting lines like "She was a whore. Queen of the $20 blowjobs" (about his mother) and "Thursday doesn't work for me" (on why he killed a shrink immediately after scheduling an appointment)? As far as the acting goes, it is appropriately hysterical. Moses does create his two characters with some distinction, although there is also plenty of that lowered-face, raised-eyes glowering too. If only he had a mustache to twirl. Peeples is a bit grating as the constantly complaining Beth, but Niven's performance has a sweetness to it which helps explain her inability to realize that her husband is not really her husband. Incidentally, her tragic performance in Alone With A Stranger spurred me to do a little research on Niven (I love those put-upon wife roles!) and I found her own official web-site, which is extremely entertaining for anyone with a sense of camp. She's got photos of her fans (all of whom seems to be in the military) and of her dogs, as well as information about her history with eating disorders. Barbara, where have you been all my life? Ultimately, however, there is no reason to own Alone With A Stranger on DVD. It could make a good party disc, but really you could just wait for it, or any other insane stalker twin movie, to come on Lifetime. VIDEO:
The full-frame video is fine. The colors are a little dull and the cinematography is nothing to write home about, but there aren't any problems with the video quality. AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is also serviceable. No subtitles are available. EXTRAS:
There are no extras. FINAL THOUGHTS:
It seems silly to buy Alone With a Stranger on DVD. This is perfect insomniac cable viewing. Still, there is something energetic and unpredictable about it. Granted, part of that unpredictability comes from having characters taking ridiculous out-of-left-field actions with no warning, but what do you want? E-mail Gil at [email protected]
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