X
- 1985
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 39 m
- 1985
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 39 m
Summary An ex-newspaper woman who is now a suburban housewife can't resist getting involved in an investigation of the murder of a philandering dentist who had been having affairs with several of her neighbors.
Directed By: Frank Perry
Written By: Susan Isaacs
- 1985
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 39 m
- 1985
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 39 m
Compromising Positions
65
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Available after 4 ratings
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Summary An ex-newspaper woman who is now a suburban housewife can't resist getting involved in an investigation of the murder of a philandering dentist who had been having affairs with several of her neighbors.
Directed By: Frank Perry
Written By: Susan Isaacs
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
65
62% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
38% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
65
62% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
38% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A delicious adaptation by Susan Isaacs of her novel, directed with a light, knowing touch by Frank Perry. It’s a blithe, sparkling, sophisticated comedy-mystery laced with dark humor that couldn’t be more welcome in the current summer avalanche of teen movies. How gratifying to hear once again dialogue that crackles with wit and humor (and doesn’t even require subtitles!).
Although Compromising Positions is supposed to be a comedy and a mystery, the film's comedy is of such a high order that the rather ordinary question of the identity of the murderer seems to be interruptive of Mr. Perry's and Miss Isaacs' otherwise nastily funny, suburban satire. Reduced to its essentials, Compromising Positions is ''Nancy Drew and the Case of the Dissembling Dentist.''... A very entertaining film.
Compromising Positions is not a big movie in any way, and it has its share of rough spots, particularly toward the end. But it's a late-summer concession to grown-up tastes after a season of intergalactic kids. And it's hard to hate a movie that contains this sentiment, again delivered deadpan: "God, I'd love to kill a dentist." [30 Aug 1985, p.D15]
Compromising Positions has its problems, especially Julia's weak performance. But it's often on target, exposing the mechanics of the heroine's marriage, the woman herself and her languorous community where two patrol cars respond to a call about graffiti. [6 Sept 1985, p.23]
Based on screenwriter Susan Isaacs' first novel, the film is nearly undone by Frank Perry's lazy direction. Good performances from the entire cast, especially Sarandon, save the movie.
Falling midway between a campy send-up of suburban wives soap operas and a legitimate thriller, Compromising Positions, from the 1978 novel by Susan Isaacs, emerges as a silly little whodunnit that's a mild embarrassment to all involved.
It's particularly disappointing because Perry -- a talented director whose credits include "David and Lisa," "Diary of a Mad Housewife," "Rancho Deluxe" and "Mommie Dearest" -- has assembled a fine cast whose considerable talents go to waste, smothered by the plodding script and stale social commentary. It's also disappointing because the film opens with such promise: several wonderful scenes, some genuine laughs, snappy dialogue. Then the Novocain sets in. [3 Sept 1985, p.B11]
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