Intersection (1994)

"Don't kid yourself." - Poster on a bulletin board in Richard Gere's
office

The sole virtue of INTERSECTION, the high-profile, low-interest remake
of the 1970 French drama LES CHOSE DE LA VIE, is one, bonafide great
hook.

Said hook comes at the beginning and it's ripe for the picking:
Vancouver architect Vincent Eastman (Richard Gere) is about to have a
nasty collision with either a minibus, a logging truck, or both.
Moments before the impact, Vincent's life flashes before his eyes.  Too
bad for the viewer that what passes for his life is already
dead-on-arrival.

The story goes that Vincent is recently separated from wife and business
partner Sally (Sharon Stone). He's living with a journalist (Lolita
Davidovich), but he hasn't resolved his feelings for either woman. He's
sitting on the proverbial fence and the film-- courtesy of embedded
flashbacks-- shows how he got on the fence in the first place.

As accurately as INTERSECTION portrays a man in transition between
spouses, the story makes for lousy drama. The characters are
unflattering and there's no passion to the proceedings. This is "carpe
dullem"-- seize the exit!

With such a who-cares story, the only remaining allure is in the
window-dressing. But even the bells and whistles get botched in this
one.

The British Columbia locales are nice and safe and maybe too clean. The
lighting and cinematography is also very pretty, which helps to scrub
away any grit from the surface of this story. Coupled to such a
too-handsome cast, it's hard to sell this drama as believable.

Of the three leads, only Stone does anything worth watching. She gets a
great ice-queen role that may win her notice. Even if her scenes are
scarce.

Put it all together and you get a film that seems trapped in a bizarre
nether-realm between safe and sorry.

With a little more ham, this could've been a great Bad Movie.  A
contrived confrontation between Davidovich and Stone already sticks out
like a sore thumb. Other close-to-camp moments include Landau's "time is
short" speech, an obvious stunt-double wrecking Gere's car, and
Davidovich's "delivery" of the Year's Best Breast Joke.

The filmmakers could also have gone the other way. With a little
narrative juggling and some clearer characterization, they could've
refined this mess into something memorable.

As it stands, it's hardly worth watching.

BOTTOM LINE:  Other than a great promotional film for highway safety,
INTERSECTION is just another stop on the Road to Dullsville (pop. 3).
Wait 'till video.

Grade: C

Copyright 1994 by Michael J. Legeros