Color of Night

sex
2006-06-29

Color of Night is an odd film. It starts off as a dreadful drama. The plot, though quirky, is jumpy and inconsistent - although not challenging. Bruce Willis plays his typical smartass role, totally unsuited to the psychiatrist he is supposed to be. He seems out of place in this movie. We know he can manage atypical roles (Death Becomes Her) but he doesn’t manage them here. Scott Bakula plays another psychologist, a friend of Willis - he portrays a relatively believeable character but gets killed off too quickly. The cop assigned to investigate is an even more camp version of Luis Guzmán. His sympathy for Willis is ridicously non-existent. The therapy group that Willis adopts when Bakula dies is full of parodies of nutcases, not nutcases themselves.

Nevertheless, it somehow held my attention. No, I don’t mean the notorious sex scenes (Willis shows more than I’d prefer and Jane March is such a weird character it’s hard to find her attractive). Perhaps just because it’s one of those films that isn’t indended to be a comedy, but manages it by accident. The twist at the end of the film is laughable - almost so much that I don’t feel bad for not seeing it coming. It’s worth seeing if you have the time, but don’t go out of your way.