It's a pre-"Nanny" on-screen meeting for Rachel Chagal and Renee Taylor, in one scene together at Thanksgiving dinner where, as the mother of leading male character James Spader, Taylor makes a complete fool of herself, and it's apparent throughout this film in their scenes and phone calls together (most of which he ignores) that he's completely embarrassed by her. Taylor's character makes her Sylvia Fine from "The Nanny" seem the best TV mom ever.
He's been having an affair with White Palace cashier Susan Sarandon, definitely from the other side of the tracks, and what an affair it is. She has the sexuality of a man, providing pleasure to the unknowing Spader who wakes up during it, a situation that seems like a one night stand, but the lonely Spader, initially coming off as snobby, can't get enough of her.
As Spader and Sarandon spend time together, they find that in spite of a lack of things in common, they're not happy apart. But she's not going to be in a relationship where she feels disrespected, that he's ashamed of her, and that their affair is sexually based even though there's love present between both. Quite a unique way to present such a romance on screen, and Spader and Sarandon are terrific together.
Kathy Bates is amusing in a small role as Spader's unapolgetically misandrist boss who has a soft spot for him but no other men, and Eileen Brennan is a delight as Sarandon's older sister. As the tragic pasts of Spader and Sarandon bring them together, they also pull them apart, and by the time this is over, the viewer will begging for that happy ending. Like the juiciest burger ever made, this is like the cartoon dog floating in the air in delight over its bone, and the conclusion will bring on cheers from the perfect way all is resolved.
He's been having an affair with White Palace cashier Susan Sarandon, definitely from the other side of the tracks, and what an affair it is. She has the sexuality of a man, providing pleasure to the unknowing Spader who wakes up during it, a situation that seems like a one night stand, but the lonely Spader, initially coming off as snobby, can't get enough of her.
As Spader and Sarandon spend time together, they find that in spite of a lack of things in common, they're not happy apart. But she's not going to be in a relationship where she feels disrespected, that he's ashamed of her, and that their affair is sexually based even though there's love present between both. Quite a unique way to present such a romance on screen, and Spader and Sarandon are terrific together.
Kathy Bates is amusing in a small role as Spader's unapolgetically misandrist boss who has a soft spot for him but no other men, and Eileen Brennan is a delight as Sarandon's older sister. As the tragic pasts of Spader and Sarandon bring them together, they also pull them apart, and by the time this is over, the viewer will begging for that happy ending. Like the juiciest burger ever made, this is like the cartoon dog floating in the air in delight over its bone, and the conclusion will bring on cheers from the perfect way all is resolved.