When She Was Bad (1983)
July 4, 2014 by adamsunderground
Living in a second marriage on the verge of disintegrating, Clare sustains an extramarital affair with a married man who both pressures her to divorce and promises her he will reciprocate so they can be together. She balks at the proposal, knowing at heart her dreams and expectations fueling the dalliance to be unrealistic and the disappointment toward her husband a weak excuse to indulge her fantasies. Delusional wanderlust runs in her family, as her brother feels being married to Clare’s best friend inhibits him from the fame and fortune the world owes him for existing. Caught in the middle of this tempest absent incest is Clare’s sensitive teenage daughter, who perceives her mother’s fickle, listless heart and jeopardizes losing her own boyfriend, paralyzed in fear of a future replicating her mother’s romantic dysfunctions. All are at a crossroads in their lives, with no one path an obvious choice.
The near menopausal mother, Georgina Spelvin’s Claire blows either hot or cold in almost every way possible. Her body still looks wonderfully buoyant at this point in her career, although her character gets adrift in its swings from hardheaded to flighty. A rage explosion unleashed upon the husband highlights this actress’s significant acting chops, yet her following blow up with the furtive paramour fizzles out in comparison.
Cast as young Diana, Tigr’s horrible hairspray mullet almost ruins an otherwise interesting minor character. It’s the empathetic touch in the film’s script toward, and Tigr’s near palpable performance of, Diana’s anxiety that saves her from fading into the scenery, a lifeline for a teen meant to be both awkward and alluring but neither in practice.
The mediocre film’s remainder registers little else to note. Vanessa Del Rio, Anna Ventura, the Sharons Kane and Mitchell, et al. enter professional–yet unremarkable sexual performances that would appeal to their fans but not create new ones, a criticism that applies as much to the above lead actresses’ boffing as these supporting roles. Nothing in the technical details reveals an outstanding performance. Camera angles are bland and timid throughout the work.
For the casual viewer, this movie should be passed over.
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Adams Underground 