Compromising Positions (1985)

Likable but thin and uneven

I remember being interested in ads for this movie when it was first released in theaters, but did not end up seeing it until years later. I recently rediscovered the movie in a box of old tapes. Unable to remember much about it, I watched it twice more. This made me appreciate the film more, but also reminded me of its flaws and limitations.

A sleazy, tacky, womanizing dentist (Joe Mantegna) serving an upscale New York suburb is murdered in his office one night. A new patient (Susan Sarandon) is drawn into an amateur investigation of the case, rekindling her own spirits and interests. She is the unassuming, dowdy housewife of an egotistical, stressed-out, button-down corporate law firm attorney (Edward Herrmann). Years ago, she was a reporter.

Many in her circle of female friends and neighbors are either gossiping about or had affairs with the dentist (he would say "there is only one way to find out if you are a natural blonde"; when first going out with a new woman, he would take her to a Chinese restaurant by a motel; afterward, he would not even spring for the meal, heading directly to the motel "so they could spend the most time together"). A married woman is desperate to recover the dentist's nude photos of her in lewd poses, which he also took of others, including his nurse.

The suspects include these women, along with Sarandon's tight-lipped neighbor; the dentist's short, nasal, hard-edged wife with the "Nazi dog" (Sarandon's term, after it practically pushes her up and over the back of an armchair trying to take a bite out of her groin); the dentist's chubby, bald, weak-willed brother-in-law, who is a printer and may have worked with him and the mob to produce pornography that "would make a child molester blush"; and the brother's tall, blonde wife.

As she investigates, Sarandon takes abuse from her self-centered, work-absorbed husband and from a sulky, tall-dark-silent-type police detective (Raul Julia). They complain that she is imposing on them, is in over her head, is getting in the way, and is endangering herself (at one point, her kitchen is vandalized). She perseveres, wins the cop's heart and finally her husband's grudging respect, hatches a plan that causes her to stumble into the solution of the murder, and triumphantly presents her free-lance story to a previously skeptical, patronizing editor for publication. As the movie fades to credits, she is working on another.

Sarandon is immensely likable as the down-to-earth, wide-eyed, spunky heroine. Her interplay with her female friends and neighbors -- who range from prim-acting and reserved to bawdy and flamboyant -- is fun. In particular, these characters are drawn with wit, intelligence and attention to detail. The acting is uniformly good. There are nice touches of black humor (e.g., the killer is provoked by the dentist's extra insensitivity in including a certain subject along with the featured woman in one of his photos). Mantegna gets almost no screen time, but we learn enough about his crude tactics through other characters that it might even have been heavy-handed to see more of him in action.

Yet, the film is unsatisfying. Although there is some smart, spicy detail to the dialogue and characters, and Sarandon's good-natured perseverance is endearing, the movie does not amount to much in the end. It is itself like light-weight, gossipy chatter with comfortable friends about a scandal. It may be a pleasant ride, but it does not feel as if it goes anywhere. (The closest the film comes is Sarandon's talk with her brash, philandering friend about marriage and attraction to other men, but it is short and surface-level. Even War of the Roses and Heartburn make more of an impression.) And even the ride becomes a little slow and repetitive after the quirky characters are introduced and as the film wears on, including some bumpy parts -- the mob/pornography angle comes off as a vague, muddled, off-putting contrivance.

Indeed, the film is uneven. Characters serve the film's humorous side far better than its serious side, which is not woven well into the comedy.

Herrmann's part is well-written and well-acted -- for another movie. His strident rants against Sarandon for not appreciating how hard he works to provide for her and for not dropping the case and staying at home (and her screaming tirade back at him at one point about having to put up with his late-hour, uninteresting work and needing more in her life) are jarringly out-of-place with the comedy and overall tone of this film.

Julia's bland, stiff, tight-lipped, undeveloped character is a huge disappointment. The film makes no attempt to credibly establish him as a cop; he does not make one smart, skillful move in the entire film. We know absolutely nothing about him, except his clipped answer to Sarandon late in the movie that he is divorced with two teen boys. With little more to do for most of the film than deliver tedious, by-the-book warnings, over and over again, that she should not interfere, he is reduced to a Latin Jack Webb. Then he suddenly, awkwardly, without explanation, confesses his love for her, thereafter appreciating her meddling in the case. This abrupt, poorly developed scene comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere, apparently depending heavily on the on-screen "chemistry" between the two actors rather than on intelligible, credible story development. I am all for honoring Julia as an actor, but to mean anything it should be for something meaningful in the material or his performance, not simply for being someone's idea of a "hunk."

It is easy to agree with other reviews that this film has the makings of a fun, old favorite, perfect for revisiting for a pleasant, familiar diversion on a bad-weather weekend afternoon. But to leave a review there ignores nagging problems that get in the way of fuller enjoyment of the movie, on first or repeat viewing. As its relative obscurity suggests, the film is likable but too thin and uneven to really satisfy. October 24, 2007

Another underrated 80's movie

Raoul Julia was sooo handsome! This movie is pre-political Susan, you can tell by her light handed acting. I really enjoyed this film, a suburban murder mystery. Judith Ivy is terrific as the slutty neighbor who sleeps around on her husband. The story rises above the upper class gossip filled neighborhood. Very well done, and very overlooked! Enjoy! January 3, 2007

Mildly humorous

This is a comedy who-done-it about a philandering Long Island dentist who is murdered, and the subsequent investigation by ex-newspaperwoman (Susan Sarandon). The dentist had been making it with a number of women, none of whom want that detail disclosed and any of whom could have killed him. Some of the scenes are funny as the women try to cover their tracks, especially after nude photos are discovered. But the social message of the movie (Sarandon working again aginst her husband's wishes for her to be a homemaker) gets to be a drag, and the ending, with Sarandon caught in the house alone with the real killer (a man), is too long and drawn out. March 23, 2005

Cute

Minor film of no consequence that manages to deftly balance between light comedy and intense drama, led quite ably by the experienced Susan Sarandon, supported by the underrated Edward Herrmann and the late Raul Julia. The story is a murder mystery that draws former journalist Sarandon into the investigation, as it was her periodontist who was murdered. It turns out this dentist was drilling quite a few of the ladies in this upscale Long Island community, and not just their teeth.

Plenty of suspects, plenty of motives, plenty of holes in the script, but don't let that bother you in this bit of cute lightweight fluff that manages to make us laugh a few times and also gets across the tension of a marriage between a very busy attorney (Herrmann) and his stay-at-home wife (Sarandon) who has gotten the jones to get back to a paying job. She's been raising the kids and getting taken for granted, and is tempted by her attraction to the detective (Julia), but ultimately hubby sees where he's gone wrong. Cliche? Sure, but it's not badly done. The luminous Sarandon actually manages to be frumpy, which is no small feat. Worth seeing once. March 18, 2004

Superb Performances are Compromised to a Weak Script

Susan Sarandon is one of our finest actors, and though her taste in scripts is questionable, she milks this role for everything it's got - gettig more from it than I believe the screenwriter had ever intended. She plays a happily married housewife who upon learning of her dentist's murder begins to investigate, and winds up fall for the lead detective on the case (Raul Julia). After awhile, the shine seems to fade from what seemed like a perfect marriage and she begins to question her life's direction. And in the film's most potent scene, she sits at her daughters recital, starring into space - wishing she were free from the burdon of having children, which inevitably drives her to stay with her unintentive husband. It's quite a scene, in the vein of the "smugglers" of 40's and 50's, and watching Raul Julia only serves as a sad reminder of what a great talent we lost with his passing. December 7, 2002

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