On K List of Movie Reviews

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Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 12/13

SpidWo
12/13: As much as I like William Hurt, his performance is a shining paragon of why it's too easy for anyone to play a transsexual and receive a shitload of acting awards.

Oddly, the Academy Awards has a long history of giving out Oscar nominations and wins for this type of performance: John Lithgow, Jaye Davidson, Dustin Hoffman, Hilary Swank, Chris Sarandon, and so on. As of 2014, a recent addition to this list is Jared Leto of Dallas Buyers Club. Next to playing a drunk, it's by far the easiest role to score a win, and I don't know why. Perhaps the voting members can relate to it a great deal?

As for Kiss of the Spider Woman, it's a dull film with nothing much happening. Most of the time is spent on the made-up story about a singing female who's wooed by a Nazi German at some nightlife club. When I'm taken to the end of the real "play," it's suddenly over with no apparent resolve. However, the performances by William Hurt and Raúl Juliá are outstanding.

All in all, Kiss of the Spider Woman should be retitled as Kiss of the Transsexual.