Stars: Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith, William Sadler, Jerry Hardin

Director: Dennis Hopper

Summary: A handsome, cunning drifter lands in a small Texas town looking for a way to come into lots of cash. He gets a job, plans a heist and gets involved with two women...

A saturnine vision of the universe and an interest in the female form bordering on adoration have been two constants of Dennis Hopper's directorial work. Both are on display in this neo-noir, starring Don Johnson as cagey drifter Harry Madox, who picks up a job from used car lot owner George Harshaw (Jerry Hardin), soon after arriving in a small Texas town. Attracting women is not one of Harry's problems, and he's soon involved with Harshaw's innocent young bookkeeper, Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly), and his tough, sexy wife, Dolly (Virginia Madsen). An ambitious sort, Harry is also planning to rob the local bank. But things begin to get strange when he learns that Gloria is being extorted by nasty backwoodsman Frank Sutton (William Sadler), who also seems to be linked to Dolly. While not quite camp, the film is a triumph of style over substance, as the characters obey the highly improbable laws of the noir universe as religiously as any Kabuki performer does theirs. Working with longtime cinematographer Ueli Steiger, Hopper again reveals a fastidious eye, and the lavish photography of the women evokes an era when they were Hollywood's cynosure.

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The Hot Spotis best known to lecherous film buffs for Jennifer Connelly's topless scene, but this sultry southern noir deserves more than prurient interest. It's arguably Dennis Hopper's best directorial effort (OK, so that's not saying much), and Charles Williams' source novel Hell Hath No Furyfinds Hopper in a comfortable B-movie milieu, riffing on Double Indemnitywith an overripe tale of sex, greed and blackmail in an unnamed Texan town. Fresh from the final season of Miami Vice, Don Johnson stars as a shifty drifter, conning his way into a salesman job on a used-car lot, where the boss's insatiable wife (Virginia Madsen) offers him sexual favours and a lovely secretary's (Connelly) innocence is threatened by a percolating scandal. Nobody's reallyinnocent, of course, and Hopper spices this languid web of secrets with enough trashy misbehaviour to qualify The Hot Spotas a bona fide guilty pleasure. --Jeff Shannon

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Year:	1990
Release Date:	May 19, 2003
Runtime:	124 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	24069 D V D
Keywords:	Spot, Hot, General, Drama
Genre:	Drama