User reviews

Tony (Daniel Baldwinn) has a brothel with three gorgeous prostitutes that satisfy any fantasy from any costumer. Francesca (Julie Delpy) is addicted and spends all her money on drugs. Mimi (Georgina Cates) is religious and donates all her money to the church. Dolly (Pamela Gidley) is bisexual and saves all her money with the intention to raise US$ 57,000.00 and buy a restaurant. She lives with her girlfriend Wendy (Yancy Butler). The story ends in a party for an important politician.

"The Treat" is a film that wastes a good cast in a shallow screenplay without humor or drama despite alternating drama, romance and black humor. There is at least one mushy situation with the character of Julie Delpy. And of course Dolly will raise the money she needs. But even being conclusive, the story does not satisfy the viewer since it is not funny, not dramatic and not erotic since none of the actress shows their bodies. There is no scene with any of them naked. Only the beauty of Julie Delpy and Georgina Cates is not enough to support the plot. The front cover of the Brazilian VHS lists Valeria Golino as part of the cast, but I have not located her in the film. I looked also in the credits and in the IMDb cast and I believe this information is completely wrong. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Clube dos Prazeres" ("The Club of the Pleasure")

This was advertised as an adaption of a stage play and a comedy. Unfortunately it is anything but funny, no laugh in sight. What may have been tentatively amusing on stage turns out to be sour, pointless and boring on celluloid. I cringed at the self-prostitution of the actors, unbelievable that a Michael York participated! The unfunny atmosphere saw to it that the negative view the film has regarding the whores' customers multiplied beyond reason. Thus whoever made it appears to hate men, portraying them in the most sordid of circumstances seems to be the sole point.

This is the best film I've ever seen! Nothing is predictable. It's very beautiful- it's very full of ideas. It's not like a normal movie which plays on one or two levels- the treat is multi- layered. Sometimes what seems to be a joke is serious, and what seems at first to be serious is a joke. I watched the movie over 50 times and i'm still not bored with it. I've turned a lot of my friends onto it and now they are hooked on it too! You definitely need to see this film several times to get it. This movie will get a huge cult following I imagine in the future. It's like The Velvet Underground meets The Doors of the movies! Comic, poetic and timeless.

Danny Lane