★ 6 / 10
**_Oh, what a tangled web we weave when
Wuchak
**_Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to…_** A wealthy heiress in the Hamptons (Meg Tilly) falls for a handsome yacht captain (Rob Lowe)…
**_Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to…_**
A wealthy heiress in the Hamptons (Meg Tilly) falls for a handsome yacht captain (Rob Lowe), but there are human vultures seeking her fortune. John Glover plays her jerk stepfather while Doug Savant is on hand as a friend from her youth who’s also a local police officer.
"Masquerade" (1988) is a ‘hip’ drama/romance with crime thrills and sweet Long Island locations, not to mention sailing sequences. It bombed at the box office because the studio was in chaos and the president’s wife hated “all that sex,” which resulted in Lowe not starring in another studio film for years.
Aside from Meg on the female front, there’s Kim Cattrall as the yacht-owner’s adulterous wife and Dana Delany as the girlfriend of the stepfather. There are a couple of R-rated sex sequences and the corresponding nudity.
As a plus, there’s a good message on the power of love to redeem a person from corruption. But there’s just so much duplicity going on it’s hard to relate to most of the characters. It’s almost comical how the heiress remains blitheful while evil people are swooping all around her. More reality and less movie-isms would’ve made for a better film. Still, it’s worth checking out if the above piques your interest.
It runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot on Long Island (Riverhead, Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Southampton Village and Broadview) with some bits in Manhattan.
GRADE: B-
Read full review
★ 8 / 10
Masquerade" is a perfect piece of entertainment which
kevin2019
"Masquerade" is a perfect piece of entertainment which has been heavily influenced by and made in the spirit of the classic film noir from the 1940's, although…
"Masquerade" is a perfect piece of entertainment which has been heavily influenced by and made in the spirit of the classic film noir from the 1940's, although with some additional modern day factors - sex and violence and some nudity - to help attract an audience. The closing moments of this film are also very arresting, especially when we discover the revelation that no matter how their relationship may have begun Tim (Rob Lowe) really did fall in love with Olivia (Meg Tilly) and not just her money and as you would expect this incredibly well paced film - like many others preceding it - benefits greatly from John Barry's haunting musical score which has been beautifully tinged with a memorably subtle and a genuinely heartfelt melancholia.
Read full review
★ 6 / 10
Aspires to be a 1980s Hitchcock rejuvenation
fredrikgunerius
Masquerade is a psychological thriller which aspires to be a 1980s Hitchcock rejuvenation, and thanks to nice pacing and delicate acting, it largely succeeds…
Masquerade is a psychological thriller which aspires to be a 1980s Hitchcock rejuvenation, and thanks to nice pacing and delicate acting, it largely succeeds for two thirds of a movie. The writers, Larry Brody and Dick Wolf, combine a knack for the clever with an inclination for the soapy, but fine direction by Bob Swaim keeps it together. At times, the film is confidently elegant, almost timeless, set in the idyllic Hamptons on Long Island and shot in a colour palette which almost convinces us of its Hitchcockesque affinity. Much of the trick is the combination of raw beauty and talent in the lead roles. Compared to today's over-glossed, photoshopped young stars, it's a delight to see Meg Tilly and Kim Cattrall stripped to the bone (both literally and metaphorically). Tilly revels in her role as the naïve, dreaming Olivia. By her side, a stunningly good-looking Rob Lowe is all right for the part - veiling his performance as the title suggests.While Masquerade may have resembled something from Hitchcock's hand for an hour or so, the final part is more like something out of Dynasty. Whether it was the 1980s disease or just bad judgment, the writers go over the top with plot twists, and we start thinking about logic instead of being seduced by the initial playfulness. The final climax, which is particularly stupid, was arguably the main reason for the many bad reviews this film received, but if you're willing to ignore that, Masquerade is as enjoyable and perceptive as any film in the psy-thriller genre.
Read full review
50%
TOMATOMETER
· 16 reviews
52%
AUDIENCE
· 1K ratings
6.1/10
5.4K
