Kiss Daddy Goodnight (1987)

I picked this up very, very cheap in a bargain bin somewhere (I won't mention the name of the store, but I'm sure you'll figure it out anyway), deciding to give it a chance because of the early appearances of Uma Thurman and Steve Buscemi, as well as one of the few appearances of Paul (older brother of Matt and Kevin) Dillon. I won't call it out-and-out terrible, but it was not, by far, one of the better movies of its type.This somewhat confused thriller features the lovely and very young Uma Thurman as Laura, a woman who takes on multiple identities and seduces older, wealthy men, drugs them, and robs them. Among her gentlemen is William Tilden (Paul Richards), a cultured man with a pet rabbit who buys her gifts in exchange for her (non-sexual) company. Unfortunately, it appears that Tilden has more than just an innocent fondness for Laura, and the relationship leads him to fuel more than a little of the conflict seen in this movie.Meanwhile, a younger friend of Laura's, Sid (Paul Dillon), is down on his luck and she does her best to look out after him. Neither Sid nor Laura are exactly upstanding citizens, but their relationship is honest, for the most part.Additionally, Steve Buscemi has a small scene as the sleazebag guitarist Johnny, for whom Sid spends much of the first part of the film searching.While this movie does remain in my collection due to its relative obscurity and strange plot movements, it is not well done on any end of the spectrum except, perhaps, for the performances of Thurman and Richards, who work quite well together. The lighting is substandard and there have been numerous complaints listed on IMDb about the sound quality. This is definitely not a movie for everyone, although it does appear that some folks enjoy it. Rent or purchase this one at your own risk.

I was thrilled to stumble across this little beauty. From the opening frames it grabbed me, with its slick artistic photography, cool sexy costumes and make-up -- basically great production values all around for such a low budget indie. Uma Thurman is incredibly appealing as a hip bad girl with a streak of naiveté which matches that of Paul Dillon, a punky street kid who's not quite as savvy as he imagines. Their stories are interwoven with that of Paul Richards, a perverse father figure with fantasy designs on Uma. The story follows the growing pains of these characters as they wrestle with their moral shortcomings and reap their karmic comeuppances. Judging from the user ratings, this one is divided between lovers and haters. If you like dark twisted movies whose characters are deeply flawed, with a fast-paced, tension-filled storyline and sumptuously photographed details, give it a whirl. If you like standard Hollywood fare and think J-Lo is an artist, you'll probably hate this.

There must be more than one version of this movie available. Amazon appears to have it for around $15, with a running time of 90 minutes. The version I picked up at a large discount store cost only One American Dollar and has a running time of 75 minutes. I suppose they cut the frontal nudity of Buscemi! Anyway, for one dollar I figured it would be worth it, to have a copy of Uma Thurman's first starring role, as a 17-year-old girl. Truthfully, I was expecting the movie to be really bad. The story is moderately interesting and it is clear that young Uma had what it took to become a successful actress. The really bad things are (1) Paul Dillon's acting, as her friend Sid. (2) The cinematography, especially the night shots, is really bad. (3) The background music is irritating. (4) The soundtrack is substandard. Still, it is well worth the one dollar it costs.SPOILERS: Laura (Thurman) survives by hustling dates with older men, letting them take her back to their place, drugging their drinks, then stealing money and valuables. Sid (Dillon) shows up to look for old friends and try to re-form a band. His only real reason to be in the story is to help save Laura during the ending. Laura's neighbor William is an older man who had a daughter much like Laura, is secretly in love with Laura, follows her at night by hired taxi, eventually kills Laura's mom, and when all this is exposed in the end Laura is trapped and forced to stab him with the dagger she had stolen during one of her schemes. Not all ends badly, as laura and Sid embrace and appear to be headed towards blissful love.Buscemi has a small role as a former band member, but now married with children and not interested in joining up again.

....or "dreary thriller", maybe. You see, this flick begins like a low-key drama (some scenes, like Dillon's meeting with Buscemi, have a documentary-like feel that reminded me, believe or not, of Andy Warhol), then turns into a straight slasher thriller. Uma Thurman makes a promising acting debut, however - and am I wrong to believe that Dillon is Matt's identical twin? (He even acts like him). (*1/2)