Masquerade

Masquerade is a really good Hitchcockian type of thriller, a combination of Suspicion and The Heiress in which sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia DeHavilland brought aspects of Meg Tilly's character in their Oscar winning performances. It was shot on location in the ritzy Hamptons of Suffolk County, in fact the plot is about the haves and have nots of the area. And that's an area where the haves have PLENTY.

One of those haves is Meg Tilly heir to a $300,000.000.00 fortune. She's a nice kid who properly wonders whether the men who court like her for her or bank account.

She's got one leach of a stepfather in John Glover, a character you just love to hate. But by the terms of her mother's will she can't get rid of him until she's 21. And he's a guy who's used to a very high lifestyle.

Tilly's also got two men in her life. Local boy Doug Savant whose father works in the shipyard on the yachts of the rich and famous who has joined the town police force. He's been crushing out on her since he was a little kid. But the Hamptons do have their own caste system.

And then into her life comes Rob Lowe, the handsome and mysterious stranger who captains Brian Davies yacht and on the side kanoodles with his wife, Kim Cattrall. He puts the moves on Tilly and since its Rob Lowe, who could blame a girl.

Tilly's the innocent here, that's a constant, but as the story continues and several murders take place, she doesn't know who to trust. You won't know because the plot takes several twists and the motives of the persons in the cast change over the course of the film.

For those of you Rob Lowe fans of both genders you can have ample opportunity to see him in several stages of undress with Kim Cattrall and Meg Tilly. He's also got an interesting scene with Doug Savant who looks pretty good himself that takes on some homoerotic overtones. What beautiful children those two would have if possible.

The title Masquerade refers both to the name of the Tilly family yacht and the fact that except for Tilly, a lot of these characters are not as they appear on the surface. Masquerade is a really good thriller of a film, don't miss it when it is shown.

Okay, could Rob Lowe be more naked in more movies? That said, this isn't bad it all. It's very Dick Wolf in the incredible number of switchbacks the storyline endures, but essentially compelling and capable of retaining surprise. The end is ham-handed at best, and Jennifer Tilly is essentially a cardboard cut-out good girl with her little lace collars. Both Rob Lowe and Doug Savant are competent and almost complicated as prominent figures in the heiress' life. Rob Lowe is perfect for the role, although the director doesn't make the most of either his complexity or his simplicity, whichever way you choose to see it. Doug Savant is especially sharp, but his character's emotional motivation is never clear and the extent of his involvement remains murky. (For example, did the mother die accidentally or on purpose?)

The film gets its title from the name of a yacht owned by a wealthy heiress, an attractive young woman just out of school, named Olivia (Meg Tilly). Olivia is a tad starry-eyed, wistful, and overly trusting. She owns eight houses and lives in the Hamptons, on Long Island. "Masquerade" is her story, and it involves romance, betrayal, and death.

Into Olivia's life comes a good-looking, but not wealthy, skipper of a racing boat, a young man named Tim (Rob Lowe). Olivia falls in love with Tim. But is Tim really in love with her, or just after her money?

The film's setup is both slightly misleading and a little slow to develop. But a major plot point at the end of the first Act perks up interest. And from here, "Masquerade" becomes a generally enjoyable thriller, until near the end. The plot climax does seem contrived. A simple phone call could have achieved one character's desired result. Instead, that character takes matters into his or her own hands. The result is an unnecessarily dramatic outcome.

The casting of Meg Tilly is perfect for the role of Olivia. Everyone else in the cast is at least adequate.

Color cinematography in outdoor scenes is quite good, especially those scenes filmed on the open waters off the coast of Long Island. Indoor sets are okay. Background music is boringly nondescript.

My only major complaint pertains to the film's dated thematic style. Many scenes in "Masquerade" show lush mansions, manicured lawns, expensive sports cars, and haughty parties where women wear expensive gowns and dance with wealthy men to the ballroom music of a live orchestra. All of which is well executed. But some of these visuals are awfully reminiscent of other 1980s productions like "Dallas" and "Dynasty", which make "Masquerade" look stuck in the 1980s.

This film offers entertainment in the form of interesting characters, more than one of whom "masquerade" as something they're not, and a twisty, betrayal driven plot that leads to an outcome that the viewer probably will not be able to predict.

Masquerade is a nifty tight thriller that's fun, and wonderfully packaged as one with kick, and some real big shocks, nasty twists that sting, all done in an impressive duration of 88 minutes, in an '88 hit surprise, in which so many things happen. Lowe is well cast, and does do the role justice, as a born yachtsman/playboy, trying to work his way up the ranks, by sleeping with hot young wives, and resorting to some deceptive and selfish motives, even graduating to murder. He falls for this young heiress (Tilly) who's very good, hitting the role with honest to god, truth, as an innocent, naive young girl, who's just lost her mother, and is fighting over her fortune with his last pig of a stepfather (excellent, the film's firey star, bedding floozy, Delaney). Yeah, greedy motives, interwoven with jealousy on and betrayal make for this impressive little thriller. Savant is the other second best performance, as the jealous ridden cop, and childhood friend of Tilly's. There's an even aftershock on Lowe's part, an act of retraction, you might say, which was another feature that impressed me like every surprisingly good performance from the cast, in a thriller that's fun, where at the end of the too short duration, we're kind of sad the ride is over.

This was an interesting movie and interesting plot twists. I enjoyed Meg Tilly and Rob Lowe, and thought they both added much to the movie. Movies of this time period are pretty much over acted, and seem boring but this one was one that fun to watch and try to figure out what was going to happen next. I have to say I am usually pretty good at seeing plot twists, but I never saw these coming. I enjoyed the scenery and enjoyed the large sail boats and the opening scene with the sail boat race. I found myself looking at the styles of the ladies clothing and hairdos and was enjoying a look back at the styles of twenty years ago and remembering them.