THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS (1990) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Paul Schrader
Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson,
Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren
What is it that makes Venice, one of the world's most beautiful and romantic cities, such a creepy backdrop for movies? Not movies like "Italian For Beginners", or "Bread and Chocolate", or even "The Italian Job", but movies like this one and "Don't Look Now"? Everett and Richardson play a couple on a holiday, trying to work out a few relationship issues, who are just out looking for a late-night bite to eat when they find themselves accepting the hospitality of a white-suited restauranteur (Christopher Walken) and his shut-in wife (Helen Mirren). Maybe there's something in the water. Or maybe those canals and bridges and narrow, dark alleys are haunted. Who knows? Personally, I think anybody who would walk out into a strange city late at night and put themselves in the care of Christopher Walken could stand to learn a thing or two about what constitutes an acceptable risk. They're in Venice, though, and they're in this creepy movie. Maybe it goes with the territory.
