Dangerous Woman, A

MPAA Rating: R

Entertainment: +2 1/2

Content: -3

Martha (Debra Winger) wants more than anything to have a friend and to be independent. She lives with her Aunt Frances (Barbara Hershey), a wealthy widow who gives Martha a comfortable home. Martha is slightly retarded, plain and extremely honest. Frances pays the local dry cleaner proprietor to let Martha work for him. Because Birdy (Chloe Webb), one of her co-workers, invites Martha to a Tupperware party, Martha assumes she finally has a "best friend." Meanwhile, Frances has a very pressing need for a good carpenter to repair her house. When Mack (Gabriel Byrne) appears out of nowhere looking for work, she hires him in spite of her better judgment. Mack has a drinking problem, but is kind to a heartbroken Martha who has been fired from her job and betrayed by fellow workers. No one understands the depth of Martha's smoldering frustrations until it is too late. A DANGEROUS WOMAN keeps you guessing as Martha experiences love, rejection and revenge without losing her child-like appeal.

Mack's drinking distorts his judgment as he deliberately seduces Martha, knowing how vulnerable she is. Martha's eagerness to experience "life" results in a very graphic sexual intercourse scene between her and Mack. Frances also has a sexual encounter with Mack while she is under the influence of alcohol. Liquor also triggers a jealous wife's drunken rage as she crashes her car into Frances' house and brandishes a gun. There is a lot of anger expressed through drunkenness, which certainly doesn't glamorize the condition. In one scene a drunk Mack tries to confess his sins to Martha, as though she were the priest. A sleazy character at the dry cleaning plant and Mack are responsible for most of the foul language that includes many obscenities and profanities. The extent of Martha's mental condition becomes very clear in a climactic horror scene of a man bleeding to death. The explicit sex and offensive language turn an interesting plot into a cheap soap opera.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor:
Gramercy Pictures, 9247 Alden Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.

Crude Language: Several (8) times - Moderate 4; mild 4

Obscene Language: Many (15) times - F-word 10; s-word 4; other 1

Profanity: Many (12) times - Regular 7; Exclamatory 5

Violence: Few times - Moderate and severe (Bloody stabbing; cut hand; car crashes into house; gun threat)

Sex: Twice (implied once, no nudity; graphic and prolonged once with rear female and male nudity)

Nudity: Few times (rear male once and rear female twice); near nudity (man in brief underwear)

Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: Few times (couple in passionate embrace; fondling, groping; self-gratification implied)

Drugs: Many times (drunkenness)

Other: Man confesses sins to woman; adulterous relationship implied

Running Time:
Intended Audience: Adult


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