Séduction fatale

Burt Reynolds looked spooky with his new facelift, but no one can take away his first-rate timing in line delivery, and his character in this semi-clever thriller from writer/director Bill Bennett is aptly creepy and unpredictable. The plot is quite intriguing: a rich old man hires a handsome young carpenter to test the fidelity of his beautiful young wife. There's money, power, and sex on the table, and the performers revel in Bennett's seething New Orleans atmosphere. Burt's surprisingly effective voiceover at the start of the film gives us a backdrop of sweaty summers and secretive swamps, and Bennett's persuasive presentation makes most of the film's more or less preposterous suggestions seem believable, even downright irresistible.