Main Cast: Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, Bill Pullman, J.T. Walsh, Bill Nunn
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Director John Dahl's The Last Seduction is an updated film noir centering around a seductive, cheerfully lethal femme fatale. Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) talks her gullible, easily manipulated, doctor-husband Clay (Bill Pullman) into pulling off a $700,000 drug deal to pay off his gambling debts. But while Clay is in the shower, Bridget quietly leaves with the money. She ends up in a bar in a small town where she meets Mike (Peter Berg) and uses him to further her scheme to keep the money and get rid of her inconvenient husband. Linda Fiorentino was championed by many critics for a Best Actress Academy Award nomination, but neither she nor the movie could be nominated since the film had made its debut on cable television. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Review
From Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity to Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice to Jane Greer in Out of the Past to Kathleen Turner in Body Heat, the femme fatale is as juicy as a movie role gets. In The Last Seduction, one of the most interesting neo-noirs of the '90s, Linda Fiorentino makes a worthy addition to this pantheon. She's got all the sexiness, the braggadocio, the brains, and, most important, the answers. As expressed in her much-talked-about sex scenes, this character is pure dominatrix. . .with a subtle smile. This is clearly a role that Fiorentino sinks her teeth into, and she probably would have been nominated for an Oscar if the movie hadn't appeared on cable before its theatrical run, invalidating it for Academy selection. This was director John Dahl's third movie and third successful foray into modern-day film noir. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Herb Mitchell - Bob Trotter; Brien Varady - Chris; Donna Wilson - Stacy; Mik Scriba - Ray; Mike Lisenco - Bert; Serena - Trish Swale; Erik-Anders Nilsson - 1st Beston Passerby; Patricia R. Caprio - 2nd Beston Passerby; Walter Addison - Detective; Michelle Davison - 911 Operator; Zach Phifer - Gas Station Attendant; Bill Stevenson - Mail Boy; Jack Shearer - Public Defender
Credit
Dina Lipton - Art Director, Debra Zane - Casting, David Rubin - Casting, Nancy Rae Stone - Co-producer, Terry Dresbach - Costume Designer, John Dahl - Director, Eric L. Beason - Editor, Joseph Vitarelli - Composer (Music Score), Camille Henderson - Makeup, Linda Pearl - Production Designer, Jeff Jur - Cinematographer, Jonathan Shestack - Producer, John Hartigan - Special Effects, Mark Deren - Sound/Sound Designer, Steve Barancik - Screenwriter
The movie features Linda Fiorentino as the femme fatale, Peter Berg as a small town man whose one night affair turns into more than he wanted, and Bill Pullman as Fiorentino's husband who is chasing her and running from loan sharks at the same time. Fiorentino's performance generated talk of a possible Oscar nomination but she was disqualified because the film was shown on cable television (HBO) before it was released to theatres.
The movie was distributed by October Films. The direct to video sequel The Last Seduction II followed in 1999 featuring none of the original cast and starring Joan Severance as the character Fiorentino originated.
The Last Seduction is a story about a sociopath[citation needed]femme-fatale, Bridget Gregory, who steals a bag of money ($700,000) from her drug-dealing husband Clay. Bridget drives off headed to Chicago when she happens to stop at a small town, Beston, and meets Mike, who is back in town after a whirlwind marriage and divorce in Buffalo. The two immediately hook up. Bridget is just looking for sex while Mike is trying to find a way out of the small town.
Meanwhile, drug dealer Clay gets his thumb broken by the loan shark who is looking for repayment for his loan. Clay, with the help of a private detective, frantically searches for his plotting wife and the money. In the small town Bridget changes her name and gets a job at the same insurance company Mike works for. (Her alias "Wendy Kroy" is essentially "New York" spelled backwards; Clay knows of her penchant for backwards spelling and writing and eventually tracks her down through this alias).
When Mike tells her how she can read credit reports to find out if a man is cheating on his wife, Bridget invents a plan based on selling murders to cheated wives. She then pretends to travel to Florida to murder a cheating husband (when she in fact went to Buffalo to meet Mike's ex-wife, Trish). She shows Mike the money she stole from Clay to convince him she has taken a cut from the life insurance payout from the new widow as payment for the supposed killing. She tells him she has done it so they can live together from the proceeds, then persuades him that he must also commit a similar murder so they will be even, and to prove that he loves her.
She tries to talk Mike into killing a tax lawyer cheating old ladies out of their homes. At first he rejects the idea, then later agrees after receiving a letter from his ex saying she is moving to Beston. But the letter was really written by Bridget to change his mind.
Mike goes to New York and breaks into the apartment of the attorney, who in reality turns out to be Clay. After Clay is tied up by Mike, he manages to work out what is happening when Mike mentions her alias, and convinces him of the truth by showing him a photo of himself and Bridget together.
They then hatch a plot to double cross her, but she turns the tables by killing Clay herself. She tells a stunned Mike to rape her. When he refuses, she tells him she knows the truth about Trish who is a transsexual. She then tricks an enraged Mike into having rough sex with her while she has 911 on the line. Mike ends up in jail facing rape and murder charges while she escapes with the cash.
