ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Nathan Hughes
Dennis Hopper once said 'There are moments that I've had some real brilliance, you know. But I think there are moments. And sometimes, in a career, moments are enough.' and I think he was right and this directorial effort by no other than the easy rider himself is nothing short of excellence. It bears everything required for essential cinema viewing, it casually takes you on a stroll where nothing feels forced, you're not choking down information 10 gigawatts per second, trying remembering inordinate amounts of information. No, It's smarter than that, it's the slow cooked approach from the first scene where the main character is met at a crossroads which I felt is symbolic to the entire movie, a drifter no less forced to wait at a train crossing.
The movie plays out rather seamlessly like you're a fly on the wall, Drifter Madox (Don Johnson) is fuelled by what fuels most men and as easy as women comes to Madox so does getting into trouble which almost feels like both his gift and curse. He get's a job quite quickly with some agitation/ harm but things start to snowball for him quite quickly for a man only new to town.
Great performances from Virginia Madsen as Dolly Harshaw who is perfect as the rich spoiled wife who wants everything and usually gets everything she wants except in this case Madox- and Jennifer Connelly as Gloria Harper is beyond comprehension ( you need to see to believe ) and honestly it's something to seen and don't forget the scene where Madox (Johnson) asks unnervingly beautiful Glora Harper (Connelly) 'Would you like a soda? Yeah, a soda.'
'Do you want a soda?' she replies back.
'Yes I do, yes I do. What would be nicer on a hot afternoon, than a tall, clean, cool, soda.' and for a minute there I thought he was talking about a cool beverage but the essential lesson I derived from this film is when air is thick with temptation take a cold bath and blow a few bubbles because selfish desire and temptation isn't always a good idea - it's almost always bad.
dadorner
Reading how the original cast was not available makes me wonder how they could have done better?Don Johnson is so slimy, good looking, cool and dangerous that he makes Robert Mitchum look ho hum in his film noir ventures. Jennifer Connely is about as fresh faced and incredibly beautiful as a 19 year old could be anywhere. Her nude scene on the beach is probably worth the price of this DVD. This was in her "busty" days. Virginia Madsen is incredibly, boldly sexy as the kind of girl your mother told you to avoid. But you can't. The film revolves around this trio as Johnson drifts into town, gets a used car job, gets seduced by the trashy wife of the older owner, starts an affair with Jennifer Connelley, robs a bank, kills a blackmailer, and ends up pondering it all. I won't go into specifics. But the story is pure classic film noir directed by Dennis Hopper. So just enough strange blended with fantastic over the top performances by Barry Corbin and others in the cast. Johnson's best movie performance. Madden's almost best (see LONG GONE where she plays Dixie Lee Box). Great character actors and a great film to watch. Wasn't successful at box office but should have been. Hard people, hard reality, hard knocks. I gave it 10 stars because it was that interesting. If you love Noir, here's a color Noir that will absolutely not disappoint. Watch it in HD.
Mr-Fusion
THE HOT SPOT isn't the greatest neo-noir out there, but all credit where it's due, Dennis Hopper does nail that steamy South vibe. He doesn't get very flashy with the visuals, and the movie does feel like it's a good 30 minutes too long ... but the mood is definitely there, and it's got a pretty damn good soundtrack. Makes for a decent time at the movies.The real icing on the cake is the movie's eye candy. Between the demure Jennifer Connelly and the dangerous bombshell Virginia Madsen, these are two unbelievably attractive women. And Hopper knows it. Don Johnson, to his credit, fits right in with the out-for-trouble Harry Maddox, and it's a great distance from Sonny Crockett. It's a good performance.But he's rightly upstaged by the gorgeous ladies.6/10
Neil Welch
Dennis Hopper was such a charismatic actor that it's easy to forget that he was also an accomplished director. The Hot Spot is a film which seems to be almost forgotten. Yet it is an excellent piece of work.Don Johnson is a drifter who takes a car salesman job in a small town, and becomes embroiled romantically with two local women: innocent secretary with a secret Jennifer Connelly, and earthy married woman with rich older husband Virginia Madsen. Within this limited scenario, quite a lot of plot takes place.Johnson has always seemed a bit lightweight to me, but he is excellent in this. And the two female leads are both excellent, giving performances which are both intense and highly sexual, in two very different ways.But it is Hopper's direction which gives the film an overpowering air of oppressiveness, sex and, yes, heat. It is not called The Hot Spot for nothing.
