Teen Movie Critic
Adrian Lyne
October 7, 1996
Lyne is a director whose slick, sleazy "audience-pleasers" (the words do seem out-of-place, considering who we're talking about here) seem to always cause some sort of uproar. Unlike his colleages, Alan Parker and Ridley Scott, Lyne has traded in his artistic merit for things that are more mainstream, and seem to go for the lowest form of entertainment that there is. Gut-wrenching violence and un-erotic (and sometimes brutal) sex scenes seem to dominate his film work.
He has been able to produce the occasional good story, such as his debut film, Foxes (1980), about a group of teenagers who like the life of the streets better than life with folks. Most of his films, though huge successes, were not welcome with open arms by the critics. Among his famed hits include:
- Flashdance (1983), the film that introduced Lyne to mainstream audiences. However, the critics felt that it was an MTV music video, painfully overlong and too much of a rip-off of Saturday Night Fever.
- Fatal Attraction (1987), one of the most talked about psycho flicks of its time, it could also be considered a huge backlash against women's lib.
- Indecent Proposal (1993), one of the most talked about films at the recent time, scored big time with everybody. Even the fact that it was dull, boring, overlong and poorly acted in certain scenes didn't stop people from seeing it. Also, it didn't stop the men from wanting to see Demi Moore's body, and women from wanting to see Robert Redford's butt.
It's guys like Lyne who give mainstream filmakers a bad name. No wonder a lot of people are turning to independent filmaking nowadays. If Hollywood and its filmakers can't come up with something more original and imaginative than the artistic jello Lyne and directors like him produce, we are in serious trouble entertainment-wise!
My rating on a scale of 1 to 10: 5
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