Hitchcock's influence lives on in this sometimes-mystifying, always-provocative thriller which eschews black comedy and edge-of-the-seat suspense for a slow, but steady, infusion of frissons.
Socialite Mrs. Isabel Harris (Carmen Maura) promotes her one-night stand Antonio (Antonio Banderas) to the status of live-in gigolo, despite her professed inability to tolerate intercourse. Allegedly suffering from a recurring rape nightmare, Mrs. Harris attempts to gain maximum value from
Antonio's presence in her domain by undergoing treatment with a sex therapist, Dr. Ana Alonso (Victoria Abril). Rather than cure her client's neurosis, though, Alonso becomes involved with Antonio and entices him to frame Mrs. Harris for the murder of her wealthy ex-husband, Leon Harris (Francisco
Guijar). Alonso assures gullible Antonio that they can extort more dough from the Harris family after they drive trusting Mrs. Harris around the bend. But with whom is ersatz love doctor Alonso really plotting?
Antonio keeps his end of the bargain by slipping out of a card game he's using as an alibi to meet Alonso right after she fatally stabs Mr. Harris in the boudoir. Unfortunately, Alonso always intended Antonio to be her patsy. Lying to every man she meets, Alonso also pretends to be a
co-conspirator of Mrs. Harris's lawyer, who becomes Alonso's next casualty. With a legal agreement signed by Mrs. Harris and Antonio, Alonso implicates Antonio in Mr. Harris's slaying; she then plants the tire jack she used to kill the attorney inside Antonio's car. Alerted by the perfect symmetry
of the frame-up, police question Alonso and suspect her of scheming with the Mrs. Harris (who claims she's innocent) to acquire free access to the late Mr. Harris's fortune.
When captured fall-guy Antonio escapes, the police shoot him but don't rush to apprehend him. After drowning treacherous Mrs. Harris in her pool, Antonio denounces her lesbian lover, Alonso; he's buoyed by the realization that she can't touch Mrs. Harris's blood money. The criminals have done
themselves in: Mrs. Harris is dead; Antonio is mortally wounded; and Alonso will face double-homicide charges.
Crime-film buffs will be held rapt by this intricately-maneuvered shell game involving a fertility clinic, multiple copies of a financial agreement, two unscrupulous sapphics, and a self-infatuated hustler who becomes a prize chump. Although there are occasions when the screenplay doesn't play
fair in its attempts to blindfold and blindside the viewer, most of its calculated payoffs are sweet, such as the tricky doctor planting a second copy of a document in Antonio's car after the audience witnesses him tearing up what he believes is his only link to the crime.
Even if the elegantly directed BATON ROUGE (so named because of Antonio's dearest travel goal) weren't so icily entertaining, it would be indispensable because it provides a rare opportunity to see all three of director Pedro Almodovar's favorite stars in the same film. The bewitching Maura and
lusty Abril are perfect foils for matinee-idol Banderas, whose sex appeal registers so much more forcefully in his native language. An adroitly handled movie about a nearly-perfect crime, BATON ROUGE doesn't care to create suspense with speculation about the female characters' chances of getting
away with murder. Instead, the thrills emerge from discovering how they've perfected the art of deceiving men. Aside from the police chief, every male falls under their spell.
Any man tempted by the notion of killing for money is advised to take a gander at BATON ROUGE, which neatly epitomizes the rule that not only is the female deadlier than the male, she's smarter, too. (Graphic violence, nudity, profanity, sexual situations, adult situations.) leave a comment