A loathsome man ends up dead, but it's not clear who's to blame. If ever a person got what he deserved, it's James Urbanksi, an abusive drunk who steals from his wife, Joyce, and promises her close friend Cynthia Kellogg that she'll be the next target of his rage. At a group outing, James bleeds to death after someone cuts his throat. But because he's such a terrible human being, police aren't sure which of his acquaintances decided to kill him.
Acting
Glenne Headly steals every scene as the battered wife who knows too much
Direction
Rudolph's dreamy flashbacks vs. harsh interrogation room lighting
Writing
Rashomon-style unreliable narration that keeps shifting blame
Director
Alan Rudolph
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis were married during filming; their real-life tension reportedly helped the on-screen hostility. Director Alan Rudolph called it 'free production value.'
Part of a 1990s wave of feminist noir revisiting the 'woman who kills her abuser' trope—think Thelma & Louise, but with more moral rot and less highway liberation.
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