The '80s thriller demonised women seen as a 'threat' to the nuclear family – and gave rise to a harmful phrase. Now as a TV remake begins, not much has changed, writes Leila Latif.
An actress known for playing complicated women takes on another in this new TV adaptation. “I don’t think I’d know what to do with a straight-up nice lady,” she said.
film gris of infidelity, blackmail and murder has the potboiler smudgeprints of
Fatal Attraction all over it. Successful Los Angeles sports agency executive Derrick Tyler (Ealy) slips off his wedding ring during a bachelor party weekend in Las Vegas, temporarily rechristens himself “Darrin”, and hooks up with a sexually-forward Valerie (Swank) after she insists he mop up the cocktail he accidentally spills down her cleavage. Once back at his Hollywood Hills home and in the arms of his wife Tracie (Lewis), their shaky marriage momentarily rekindled, Derrick is viciously attacked downstairs one night by a masked gunman. When the LAPD police officer assigned to the case arrives to investigate, it turns out what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay there. As a slightly tense Detective Quinlan (yes, Swank) surveys the couple’s upstairs bedroom for an altogether different set of clues, her eyes lock on Tracie’s lacy underwear casually strewn on the marital bed and instantly you
film gris of infidelity, blackmail and murder has the potboiler smudgeprints of
Fatal Attraction all over it. Successful Los Angeles sports agency executive Derrick Tyler (Ealy) slips off his wedding ring during a bachelor party weekend in Las Vegas, temporarily rechristens himself “Darrin”, and hooks up with a sexually-forward Valerie (Swank) after she insists he mop up the cocktail he accidentally spills down her cleavage. Once back at his Hollywood Hills home and in the arms of his wife Tracie (Lewis), their shaky marriage momentarily rekindled, Derrick is viciously attacked downstairs one night by a masked gunman. When the LAPD police officer assigned to the case arrives to investigate, it turns out what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay there. As a slightly tense Detective Quinlan (yes, Swank) surveys the couple’s upstairs bedroom for an altogether different set of clues, her eyes lock on Tracie’s lacy underwear casually strewn on the marital bed and instantly you