On I List of Movie Reviews
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Intersection (1994)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
8/20, 2/22
8/20:
I saw Intersection in 1994 yet didn't remember anything about it but the slo-mo car accident Richard Gere was
getting into.
A remake of Les choses de la vie, I have to say it's a fine drama with an European feel, great location photography,
and strong editing that tells a captivating nonlinear story by using flashbacks about what went wrong in one marriage.
Like the Mercedes 280SL roadster, what happened to Vincent Eastman is a tragedy. He was a likeable person, but driving over 80
MPH on a wet local road is going to cost a person his life every single time. However, Vincent's conflict with two women,
hence the title of the film, does put life into perspective, and he wanted the marriage to work and his wife just
couldn't see his way.
Once again, the always handsome-looking Richard Gere gives a charming performance, but his manners can be
repetitive at times although I don't mind it. I never thought Sharon Stone was a good actress, but she may have given
the performance of her career here. It's the mirror of her personality in so many films:
detached and unfeeling. Lolita Davidovich does a decent job as the third wheel.
If you've never heard of a Congreve clock, well...the movie will correct it for you. Invented by William Congreve in 1808
although there had been earlier versions, it's a pretty work of craftsmanship with the metal ball rolling along the zig-zag
track to operate the clock. Unfortunately, Congreve clocks are notoriously unreliable because the surface and the ball have
to be clean and dust-free all the time. Otherwise, they'll slowly lose as much as 45 minutes a day.
All in all, Intersection is a must-see.
2/22:
"We weren't a family. We were a corporation with a kid."
That's the main theme of Intersection. Flashbacks are used to pinpoint what went wrong. The present day is set for
Vincent Eastman to decide whether to save the marriage or drop it for good and open a new chapter. After a bit of
mind-wrestling with his decision, he chose the latter but stupidly cost his life by driving too fast on a slick local road.
The best part is character development. At the end, it's easy to feel bad after what happened to Vincent. Richard Gere is
terrific. Sharon Stone gives the best performance of her career. Lolita Davidovich is merely okay but is relegated to almost
a third wheel between these two to serve as a plot device.
Showing shades of American Gigolo, the style is impeccable throughout with fantastic
cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond. Hence, it's why Vincent wanted to hold on to his beautiful-looking wife. The building is
the Museum of Anthropology which is part of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and the artifacts inside
are still the same.
All in all, Intersection is still an underrated movie that unfairly received a lot of bad reviews.