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Film Review: 'Deadly Attraction'

The dysfunctional family to end all others self-destructs in this insurmountably bleak and uneven 'Oedipus' reboot.

By Trevor WellsPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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If you've ever had problems with your family, seeing the Fisher family will have you counting your blessings. The family's dysfunction can be mostly laid on the shoulders of son Mark Fisher (Matt O'Neill), the trifecta of psychological issues. Estranged from his father Kenneth (John Wilhovsky), bullying and abusive to his sister Catherine (Jamie Bernadette), and harboring hidden lust for his mother Laura (Daniela Torchia), the Fishers are ready to collapse.

After finally being driven to his limit with Mark, Kenneth kicks Mark out of the house after winning a fight with him, allowing Laura and Catherine a temporary respite. Sometime later, however, Mark approaches his mother and asks to return home, claiming to be wanting to make amends for himself. Desperate to reconnect with her troubled son, Laura allows Mark back into the house, but it soon becomes clear that Mark is up to his old ways and wants nothing more than to destroy his family. As the Fishers fall apart at the seams, only one thing becomes clear: When it's all over, no one will get out unscathed.

After watching this movie on Tubi, I was prepared to let it slide without giving in a review. But after sitting on it for some time, I decided to do just that. And why? To warn you against watching this movie and having its existence etched into your memory like mine. Hopefully, with time, I can recover and this review will save others from a similar fate as I...

OK, maybe that was a little too melodramatic, but regardless, Deadly Attraction (also known under the title 365 Days, to correlate with the cards announcing how many days have passed throughout the story) has so much wrong with it that any good that appears in it is drowned out by all the awfulness around it. The script is where much of the blame lies, as the film's plot ends up jumbled and at times confused as the focus is put on the wrong cast of characters and plot points are brought up that ultimately prove inconsequential to the main story. With much of the film's focus being on the immensely unlikable Mark and his group of similarly terrible friends, whose antics prove both uninteresting and largely unconnected to anything else, the film spends much of its time showing Mark's despicable actions, which is quick to become irritating and depressing.

The plot also offers up a plethora of unfortunate implications and lapses in character judgement, with the latter coming into play with how easily Kenneth makes it for his son to destroy his marriage and how easily Laura plays herself into Mark's hands. A side plot also ensues regarding Mark's friend being set up by a random hook-up to be raped, a story that would've made for an interesting plot had it 1. not been delegated to an inconsequential subplot and 2. been handled with tact and sensitivity that is nowhere to be seen due to the plot line mostly being propelled by Mark.

{SPOILERS BELOW}

However, in the grand scheme of the movie, Deadly Attraction makes a fatal mistake in playing its hand too hard in the first acts of the film, as when the climax revolves around Mark finding "redemption" after being given a cryptic warning from a homeless man and threatened at gunpoint, it comes as a slap to the face how easily the film seems to believe Mark can be redeemed after spending the entire movie destroying his family and taking callous and outright sadistic pleasure in doing so.

Had Mark's redemption arc been given a gradual start rather than being tagged on to the last act of the film, Deadly Attraction's final act could've proven effective in letting the audience believe Mark had good inside him. But as is, the entire thing leaves a bad taste in one's mouth, making what was likely meant to be a tragic conclusion (which makes sense, given the source material the film takes inspiration from) seem like a dark form of karma against Mark.

{SPOILERS ENDED}

The badly muddled plot sadly dampens the cast's notable strengths. As much as the film overplays his characters and botches his story arc, Matt O'Neill gives a chilling portrayal of the violent and borderline sociopathic Mark. John Wilhovsky and Daniela Torchia play their roles with a nuance and authentic emotion that endures through their characters' individual lapses in judgement, and Jamie Bernadette proves to be the dark horse of the cast as she brings palpable emotional depth to a role that gives Catherine little to do other than be terrorized by her brother in every other scene she's in, leaving her the most sympathetic character of the cast and Bernadette the actor most robbed by the poor script.

Deadly Attraction is a perfect example of a film that could've been something good, had it be revised to where the major kinks in the script could be altered. Unfortunately, those kinks remain and make the movie borderline unwatchable, with the overly dark and loose ended plot, uneven characterization of the film's main antagonist, and a conclusion that feels rushed and downright insulting given the context of it all culminating into something that leaves you feeling empty as the end credits roll. Despite having a strong cast under its belt, Deadly Attraction is a film that will hardly leave anyone attracted for long.

Score: 3 out of 10 father-son garage fights.

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About the Creator

Trevor Wells

Aspiring writer and film lover: Lifetime, Hallmark, indie, and anything else that strikes my interest. He/him.

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Twitter: @TrevorWells98

Instagram: @trevorwells_16

Email: [email protected]

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