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Two Moon Junction (1988)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
3/09, 2/22
3/09:
Zalman King is at it again: obsessed with erotica and women who have a sexual awakening for the first time.
Then again, Two Moon Junction is an enjoyable movie that is set in the decadent South. The first thirty minutes
did fail to get my attention because of the trashy romance novel feel. It woudn't get better by the time a fight erupted
during one night at the carnival.
Finally, things started to improve once there was an intense focus on the chemistry between Perry and April DeLongpre. The
steamy atmosphere is superb, nearly encroaching Body Heat territory. It has a nice ending as well.
I'm surprised to see the setting taking place in Alabama when I thought it was Georgia. Louise Fletcher is good, but her
role should've been expanded more. At the beginning, I kept asking, "Where's Mickey Rourke?" and then forgot about
about him an half hour later when Richard Tyson started to take over.
All in all, it's best not to take Two Moon Junction seriously but rather think of it as a guilty pleasure.
2/22:
Zalman King was the high priest of erotic filmmaking.
His fingerprints all over Two Moon Junction are unmistakable. It's the best stuff for both Sherilyn Fenn and Richard
Tyson who's the definition of a beefcake. They'll never do better for the rest of their careers. Two Oscar winners, Louise
Fletcher and Burl Ives, play along, but only the former has a significant role while it's the final, albeit weak, performance
of the latter's career.
The film's achilles heel is the dialogue. It can be bad at times, especially the lines that Richard Tyson is supplied with.
Midway, the flow gets off track when Kristy McNichol as Patti Jean draws attention to herself. After she's cut out, the
focus is back on the two lead stars, serving up plenty of sex against the Antebellum South backdrop.
Being close to Lake Consequence more than anything, Two Moon Junction is about a
woman's sexual awakening, not that April DeLongpre needs any help in this department. It's mainly the question of being on the
right wavelength, and Perry happens to meet her satisfaction despite how good-looking Chad Douglas Fairchild is. It's been too
planned for her as dictated by the two power families, so she wants some spontaneity. The ending showing April's ring says she got
married but will secretly have her dish on the side.
All in all, Zalman King excelled in an area that nobody has ever mastered: making the sexy scenes work.