It's an odd movie that my TV Guide gave too low a rating in my opinion. But the low rating is understandable because the movie IS so odd. Some may take it for a failed comedy. Others may see it as a murder story gone haywire.
Mostly, it resembles Lina Wertmuller's "Seven Beauties" in that it's most serious moments are treated lightly, backed up by a score of period music that tells us not to take the events seriously. It's as if someone had tried to turn "Streetcar Named Desire" into a funny movie. And it partially succeeds.
Dorothy is Susan Lynch, who comes to the aid of Petula (Rachel Weisz). Weisz's drunken boyfriend is beating the hell out of her -- don't worry, no blood -- and after downing him, Weisz and Lynch take him to Weisz's flat where they leave him in the bath tub, puking. He accidentally falls and dies. For various reasons, all of them specious, the two strangers don't want to go to the police, so they stash the body out on the balcony while they deliberate. Pluto, the sizable dog, acts genuinely in love with Lynch, and has a pivotal role in the story. No, kidding; either that dog is a damned good actor or Susan Lynch's pheromones are inordinately powerful.
I won't bother going through the rather complicated plot except to say that everyone winds up mincemeat except for Lynch and Weisz, who run off with a couple of million pounds, plus Pluto who is minus an ear.
The acting is fine on everyone's part. Weisz is all gussied up like a blond tart but she looks striking, with her black eyebrows, dark gypsy eyes, and flattish nose in that wan environment.
Nobody acts quite the way you'd expect them to, and if they try, the trick often fails. There's the dispassionate Detective Inspector, Alex Norton, for instance. Suspecting that the disappearance of Weisz's boy friend is part of a kidnapping plot he visits her at home while she has only a bath towel wrapped around her. She bends over and most of her breasts are exposed for a moment. Norton notices it but pays no attention. A cold-blooded cop, right? Except that he sneaks into her flat one night leans over her bed and while whispering about the vile things he'll do to her, he slips a shotgun under the covers between her knees. Gulp. Where did THIS guy come from? It's rather like that, all the way through, so I can understand TV Guide's not quite knowing how to handle the movie. I, for one, enjoyed it despite it's occasional sluggish moments.
Mostly, it resembles Lina Wertmuller's "Seven Beauties" in that it's most serious moments are treated lightly, backed up by a score of period music that tells us not to take the events seriously. It's as if someone had tried to turn "Streetcar Named Desire" into a funny movie. And it partially succeeds.
Dorothy is Susan Lynch, who comes to the aid of Petula (Rachel Weisz). Weisz's drunken boyfriend is beating the hell out of her -- don't worry, no blood -- and after downing him, Weisz and Lynch take him to Weisz's flat where they leave him in the bath tub, puking. He accidentally falls and dies. For various reasons, all of them specious, the two strangers don't want to go to the police, so they stash the body out on the balcony while they deliberate. Pluto, the sizable dog, acts genuinely in love with Lynch, and has a pivotal role in the story. No, kidding; either that dog is a damned good actor or Susan Lynch's pheromones are inordinately powerful.
I won't bother going through the rather complicated plot except to say that everyone winds up mincemeat except for Lynch and Weisz, who run off with a couple of million pounds, plus Pluto who is minus an ear.
The acting is fine on everyone's part. Weisz is all gussied up like a blond tart but she looks striking, with her black eyebrows, dark gypsy eyes, and flattish nose in that wan environment.
Nobody acts quite the way you'd expect them to, and if they try, the trick often fails. There's the dispassionate Detective Inspector, Alex Norton, for instance. Suspecting that the disappearance of Weisz's boy friend is part of a kidnapping plot he visits her at home while she has only a bath towel wrapped around her. She bends over and most of her breasts are exposed for a moment. Norton notices it but pays no attention. A cold-blooded cop, right? Except that he sneaks into her flat one night leans over her bed and while whispering about the vile things he'll do to her, he slips a shotgun under the covers between her knees. Gulp. Where did THIS guy come from? It's rather like that, all the way through, so I can understand TV Guide's not quite knowing how to handle the movie. I, for one, enjoyed it despite it's occasional sluggish moments.