Michael Boll (James Spader) is an ambitious and successful marketing analyst who’s doing well in his job but comes up against a problem when one of his colleagues sabotages his work by wiping one of his most important files off the company’s computer system. To add to Michael’s woes he has an additional problem, as he doesn’t want to marry his fiancée. While consoling himself with a beer, he gets caught up in an altercation with a violent customer but fortunately a good-looking stranger comes to his rescue.
The stranger, named Alex (Rob Lowe) and Michael soon become friends and Alex makes it his business to show Michael how to overcome some of his problems. This results in Michael successfully turning the tables on his scheming work rival and freeing himself from his fiancée. Michael’s sense of liberation and empowerment is profound but doesn’t stop there because, through his new friendship, he soon gets involved in Alex’s sex and drug fuelled life of decadence.
Alex turns out to be an enigma, he has a variety of identities and he never seems to work, yet is extremely wealthy, he doesn’t seem to have any commitments and adopts a number of different accents. The wild behaviour that he and Michael indulge in gets more serious when they rob a series of convenience stores. At this point, Michael begins to feel a little uncomfortable and when he has time to reflect on his actions, he realises that his recent behaviour just isn’t really him and he tries to distance himself from Alex.
Upon doing this however, things turn ugly and he soon finds himself framed for a murder he didn’t commit and has his life turned upside down.
I loved the style of this movie as Michael is a typical late 80s yuppie with an impressive minimalist, apartment, lots of expensive possessions and a strong appetite for improving his personal and professional status. Alex, on the other hand, is a dedicated pleasure seeker who’s manipulative and completely amoral. Whilst Michael is initially repressed and passive, Alex is very confident and has no inhibitions whatsoever and the hedonistic and decadent behaviour that they indulge in is also symptomatic of 1980s affluence and excess.
This is an intriguing thriller which features a couple of interesting characters, plenty of suspense and excellent performances from Rob Lowe and James Spader. I feel Spader is playing himself here as he is particularly good at conveying Michael’s anxiety, naivety and discomfort in certain situations and Lowe conveys Alex’s combination of charm and menace very effectively. The action is delivered at a good pace and there are also some humorous moments to enjoy – this is also one of those I watched as a young lad when I really shouldn’t have been, so again, sticks in the memory.