Never Talk to Strangers (1995)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This 1995 erotic thriller has some of the right ingredients: primarily the rich, Bernard Herrmann-like music score by Pino Donaggio, and the good cast. Rebecca De Mornay is ideal for portraying repressed fire, Antonio Banderas can easily switch from likable to potentially dangerous, Dennis Miller and Harry Dean Stanton provide lively support (Miller gets the best line in the film: "I am Sisyphus with a hard-on!"). The De Mornay - Banderas erotic scenes are quite steamy. It's a well-done film of its type, but the ending is telegraphed in advance, and the final psychological explanations are clichéd. A moderate success. **1/2 out of 4.

We watched this at home as a rental. The pacing was okay and there were enough plot points to keep the viewer watching and make it interesting. It was largely predictable, but not in a particularly annoying way. My husband and I discussed several possible twists during the film, finally deciding on the scenario that turned out to be correct. Even so, it was a decent film until the very end when my rating went from a 5 to a 2.I was willing to accept the private detective who gave unrealistically timely and incredibly incorrect updates. What I won't accept is that the police don't follow even the most basic of crime scene procedures after the shooting. The most inept coroner would notice that "Tony" had not fired any gun and a cursory swab analysis of "Sarah's" hands would show that she had two different powders on them. I am not comparing this to the unrealistic standards of an episode of CSI, Bones, or Criminal Minds where the world's supposedly best forensic minds have access to the world's best (and sometimes futuristic) crime scene forensic technologies. Even overworked NY City cops would have done swabs in what might seem an open and shut case. Maybe especially in this case as cops tend to be suspicious by nature...

Though overlooked at the time of it's release, "Never Talk to Strangers" is a well-crafted thriller centering on the human dilemma of whether or not to trust others. Rebecca De Mornay stars as Dr Sarah Taylor, a psychologist in an unnamed city who has a difficult personal life. She meets the charming Tony Ramirez (Antonio Banderas) in a supermarket and- despite her many fears- is soon drawn into a passionate relationship with him. Soon after meeting Tony, Sarah acquires a stalker who sends her dead flowers and dismembers her pet cat. The audience is provided with a decent list of possible suspects including Tony, Sarah's missing ex-boyfriend Benny, or possibly her slightly sleazy upstairs neighbor (a surprisingly good Dennis Miller). Other possibilities include her alcoholic father, and associates of serial killer Max Cheski (the wonderful Harry Dean Stanton) on whom she is performing a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.As the plot unfolds, it appears as if De Mornay's character has nowhere to hide and nobody she can really trust. Various characters appear more or less likely to be guilty of terrorizing her. The film also very deftly portrays Sarah's need for a relationship with Tony even though she is terrified that he is hiding something from her. The acting is top notch and the plot is full of satisfying twists and turns. If you are in the mood for a strong, solid thriller then this ought to be a top choice.

Enjoyed the plot to this story and some very torrid scenes and horrible blood and gore all put into one package. Rebecca De Mornay,(Dr. Sarah Taylor),"Wedding Crashers",'05, played a shrink who was dealing with a mental case in a prison and also had a husband who was a doctor in the same hospital. One night on the way home from the hospital, she meets up with a young woman in the middle of the road in a very dark woods near a bridge. It is at this point in the picture that things really go crazy. As the story progresses, Sarah meets up with Antonio Banderas,(Tony Ramirez),"The Legend of Zorro",'05, who manages to hit on Sarah and gets a date and plenty more interesting torrid events. There are many twists and turns to this mystery tale and the ending of this film may greatly deceive you.