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Beyond Lust. Beyond Passion. Beyond Desire...Is Someone Beyond Control?
Cast | Classic Lines | Continuity Errors | Foreign Titles | Formats | Notes | Pictures | Official Summary | My Summary | My Review

Cast

Directed by Richard Kletter
Written by Jack Tarpon and Richard Kletter

Classic Lines

"If you want to play with the big dogs you have to learn to piss on big trees."
"I could just fuck her and call it even."

Continuity Errors

In the final scene Roger has a black gun, but after he is shot he is holding a silver one.

Foreign Titles

 Germany - Indiskrete Leidenschaft

Formats

VHS - NTSC - OP / LD
Hi-Fi Stereo, Close Captioned

Notes

• Filmed in Vancouver, Canada.

• Rated R - 81 minutes

• Empty Chair Productions

• Distributed by Summa Video 1995. Catalog # 41075, ISBN1-56949-166-6

Pictures

VHS Cover - Front
VHS Cover - Back
Malcolm close-up from back cover

Official Summary

    What starts as a flirtatious seduction turns into a deadly affair when a young man finds out his lover is married to a dangerous man in this sexy thriller. Jim Lomax (C. Thomas Howell) is a hip ladies man who works for an advertising agency. When he meets a beautiful woman named Caroline (Joan Severance), they begin a passionate affair. But he soon finds out that she is married to a wealthy and influential business man Roger Everett (Malcolm McDowell), who has hired Jim's agency under the pretense of handling his image-building campaign. But Roger knows about Jim's affair with Caroline, and when Roger confronts him, Jim realizes that he is caught in a web of deadly lies that may ruin his career and destroy his life. Does Caroline love him enough to break free from her husband's abusive hold and save him...or did she just use him as a pawn to fuel her husband's sadistic jealousy?

My Summary

    A pretty young woman is walking her dog on a leash at the beach and passes Jim with his dog. She tells him how his dog should be on a leash as well. He tells his dog Blue to attack, kill, do anything in fact. He says for her to see how harmless he is and that he is the the one she should worry about. She isn't convinced and he says that is because she doesn't know him.
    A woman in the Baird Advertising office keeps staring out the door and asks the receptionist if he has called. "He never does," she replies. A few minutes later Jim walks in. This is where he works and he is late for a big commercial presentation he designed. The ad features a young man and woman in an apartment. He explains how whenever his relationships start to go sour his girlfriends' ask to borrow his leather jacket and never give it back. "It is hard to replace a good leather jacket," he explains. Jim's boss comes in to tell Jim that the client thought he was the voice for his generation.
    That night at the local video store an attractive older woman, Caroline, is returning a movie, "Last Hero", that she has rented. Jim comes up and and says that it is one of his favorite movies. She tells him it wasn't very believable and the clerk announces the titles of the two films Jim has which are both pornos including Biker Sluts 2. He says he just forwards past the sex and pays attention to the story. She tells them that is too bad since Biker Sluts 2 is one of her favorites. She asks if there is a nearby market and the clerk goes to tell her, but Jim interrupts and points one out.
    She is in the market shopping when Jim goes sailing by on a shopping cart a few times. He asks her to notice him so he can stop the crazy stunt. She laughs and he continues. He then takes her next door for a drink. He tells her he knows a great blues place or any other place and she tells him the game is over and he has already won. He wants to know how he did. She goes to get a cigarette, but is out. He takes care of it by running back to the market to get her a pack as well as a 12 pack of condoms and a $2 rose with his credit card.
    They go back to her place which is on a mountain and they have to take a tram to get up there. He can't believe that she lives there all by herself. She says she has ever since her divorce. "You're divorced?", he asks. "Isn't everyone?", she replies. They go on the couch and start to get passionate and she jumps up and takes off her shirt. He goes to her and she runs away. He quickly chases her, taking off his shirt and she keeps running to the bedroom. He grabs her on her bed and removes her bra, but she keeps trying to get away. Even as he mounts her from behind on the rug she keeps crawling away. It isn't that she didn't want it, but that she likes it rough.
    He goes into the kitchen to get water from a cooler when a big black Doberman outside jumps up on the glass barking like mad which scares the crap out of him. She comes up wearing a silky night shirt with her nipples pointing through and he goes up to her and removes her shirt and chases her back to the bedroom. After the next round he asks her to tell him about herself. "You tell me", she responds. He says she came from a small rural town and grew up fast. By age 14 she was already attractive and guys were hitting on her from all sides. Soon she learned she could use her looks to get anything she wanted and became a model. "Nightclub singer," she corrects. He says he would like to hear that, but she tells him she doesn't know him well enough. He continues by explaining she didn't fall for the right guy, but the guy with the wealth and power and enjoyed the lifestyle. She tells him men fear intelligence and she learned to keep her mouth shut and men have proposed to her before she even finished a sentence.
    The next day wealthy businessman Roger Everett returns home to his wife Caroline. He goes into the bedroom to get undressed and finds the rose in the trash. There is also the bag which has the credit card receipt with Jim Lomax's name on it.
   Jim is taking Sally, his co-worker, out to lunch and when the check comes he says he'll pay for it since he claims the girls' money is counterfeit. He gives his card and the waitress comes back saying it was denied. He says to run it again and she explains that she did. The girl has to pay for it instead. When he gets back home he calls the credit card company. They tell him there is a problem with the account and won't give him the information even though it is his account. He tells him that is their problem and they hang up on him.
    Roger is at his office and his aides are explaining to him that he needs to sway only one congressman's vote to get his environmental housing project approved. Nancy explains he needs an environmental publicity campaign to sway the voters. He isn't totally paying attention as he is now reading everything there is about Jim that he has investigated. She tells him he has to be Mr. Clean. "Mr. Clean?", he repeats. That night Jim goes to his SUV and finds it totally vandalized, he can't believe it because the radio is still inside.
    Roger knows Jim is an advertising guy and is watching the leather jacket commercial at home and asks his wife what she thinks of it. She tells him it is boring. He asks if she is attracted to the guy in the ad. She says no. He says, "you don't find him sexy?" She explains she didn't say that, but that kind of guy uses up all his best moves in the first three weeks of the relationship and then has nothing left to offer.
    Roger decides he wants Jim to be in charge of his ad campaign and goes to his job. The agency is thrilled and Roger tells them he wants Jim because he is an ordinary guy who is naive. Jim doesn't believe that about himself, but the agency agrees and Jim is to follow Roger around to make an environmental documentary about him. Jim agrees that he is his man.
    That night Caroline calls Jim for the first time and says she had fun the other night. "Me too, when can I see you again?" he asks. Right now she tells him, try to find her at the market. He tells her he'll be there in 15 minutes. He looks all around and eventually finds her in the basement!? After kissing a worker shows up he wants to get out of there and she suggests going back to his place.
    She likes the place finding it warm and cozy and asks if he owns it. He explains it is an illegal sublet because the deadhead who really rents took off and the landlady doesn't remember him. She puts on his hat and he pours some wine and turns the lights low. They wind up in the bedroom with the lightning flashing off their naked bodies. He admires her body and notices a big bruise on her thigh and she claims it is from being clumsy.
    Roger has had them followed and the next day gets a big batch of pictures. He calls up Jim to get together and buy him some beers. They go to a bar and shoot some pool and he leads him on about how important it is to have a family. Once Jim is pretty loaded Roger tells him has this problem. His wife is attracted to every loser that comes along, but he still loves her. Jim says to dump her as he wouldn't put up with that and that Roger could have any chick he wants. Roger tells him to flip a coin, "Heads I kill her, tails I kill him." Jim flips tails and Roger shows him a picture of his wife, one of the photos showing her on top of Jim. Jim is sickened and tries to explain she said she was divorced. Roger takes him and throws him down on the pool table and tells him, "If you want to play with the big dogs you have to learn to piss on big trees." Then he leaves him there.
    When Roger gets home he shows Caroline the photos and she breaks down hysterically. Jim tells Sally what happened and that all the bad things happening to him must be Roger, but he still has to keep him as a client. He vows never to see Caroline again. This doesn't last long as he goes to her house soon after to tell her Roger knows about them and she seems to have lost interest in him. He asks why she didn't tell him and she lamely responds that he never asked.
    Jim goes to Roger's office the next day to apologize and that he had no idea she was married and he would never have done it. Roger asks if he has a girlfriend and he says no. "Too bad. I could just fuck her and call it even," Roger tells him. Jim then starts to accuse him of the attacks against him and Roger explains, "The greatest warrior is the one who never has to attack." Jim leaves pissed off.
    The rest of the day is spent following Roger around picking up garbage on the beach and showing his family life with his wife and son Matthew. They color pictures about the environment and Roger kisses his wife a few times and says, "Good enough for you Jim?" Sally takes Jim aside and tells him she can she way he fell for her, but she has a history of this and the last guy who got involved Roger destroyed his life and then he disappeared. That night Jim's landlord tells him he has one week to evacuate his apartment. He then follows Caroline to a tent bar and tells her to leave him. She won't do it. He asks her why she would stay if she hates him. She fears him. He says to get her son and he'll take her away, but she refuses. He throws his hands up in disgust and walks away.
    Jim is editing the presentation for Roger and his boss comes in. He tells him Roger is using him and playing games and he'll hate it no matter how good he makes the ad and his boss thinks he is crazy. Roger comes in and watches the presentation. He thinks they worked hard, but isn't totally happy with it. Jim disrespects him and tries to get him to reveal his real motivations. His boss tells him to leave and tells Roger he thinks it looks good, especially the part about him donating $2 million of his own money to the project. Roger says that is the problem, he didn't donate the money and Jim is making fun of him. The boss goes to talk to Jim and he finally reveals he slept with his wife. The boss is stunned and tells him to apologize and he won't. He tells him to leave and he won't. Jim eventually convinces him to fire him.
   Jim returns home to find his dog has eaten poisoned meat and he is able to medicate him in time before he dies. He takes the meat to the police and tells him all the things Roger is doing to him, but once the cop hears about him screwing his wife he won't listen anymore. He tells him that's what he gets. Jim decides to leave Blue with Sally so he'll stay safe.
    The next day Jim goes to Roger's house with a sledge hammer and proceeds to smash his car with it. Roger runs out and catches him, pulling a gun on him until the police show up. Jim is thrown in jail next to a loud mouth crackhead and screams at him to shut up.
    Sally goes to Caroline to get him out, but she refuses and tells her to bail him out herself. She tells him she wouldn't have come to her if she had $10,000 to bail him out. Caroline tells her she really cares about him. Sally tells her that if she really cared she would get him out. She tells him Roger would know, but Sally tells her if she cares she'll figure it out.
    She does bail him out and Jim tells him he is going to get Roger for all of this. She still won't have any part of it. The next day there is a big get together at Roger's with all the people involved in the project including the Japanese investors. The congressman they need to influence is also there and Caroline shows him around. Jim crashes the party and bad mouths Roger to everyone he can. He eventually runs into the congressman and tries to convince him that Roger is a crook and that he shouldn't vote for Roger. He tells him he is an honest man and will weigh both sides. Roger sees him and proceeds to throw him out.
    Caroline goes to Jim to help him and tells him she put her son with her sister. Jim comes up with a plan the next night. He has Caroline tell him the Congressman's wife called and that he is willing to make a deal with Roger if he calls him up at 8 pm sharp. Jim goes to the congressman to tape everything. Roger shows up to bribe him and learns of the setup, but doesn't care. He offers the congressman $50,000 for his vote which is a lot of money since he only makes $34,000 a year. He won't accept it though and Roger leaves.
    The next night is the presentation which will debut the film Jim was working on. Jim cons his way into the sound booth and bribes the guy to run the tape he brought instead. When Roger goes to play the tape it is a hidden camera footage of Roger trying to bribe the congressman and everyone abandons him before they can turn the tape off.
    Jim and Caroline are at his apartment trying to pack up his stuff and get out of there when Roger breaks the door in. He has had enough. Jim pulls a gun on him, but Roger knows he'll never pull the trigger. He tries to get Caroline to come back with him, but she won't go. While talking to her Roger pulls a gun on Jim. Caroline says to shoot him and Roger asks who she was talking to. Jim jumps on him instead of shooting him and Roger throttles him. He throws him into the kitchen and smashes his head on the counter knocking him out and slaps Caroline away hard. Meanwhile Blue is outside barking and freaking out. Roger goes to give the gun to Caroline telling her to shoot him if she really hates him. When she goes for it he steps on her hand and throws her over with Jim. He says the story will be that Jim lured him over there to kill him and was shot in the process. Before he can shoot Jim, Blue smashes through the window and attacks him. He goes to shoot the dog, but Caroline has picked up Jim's gun and shoots Roger in the chest.
    The final scene shows Jim and Blue on the beach and Jim quotes someone who said, "In our next life we try to get everything right in our lives that we screwed up in our previous life." He says he is still trying to get it right the first time. The End.

My Review

    This film was never going to win any awards, it was made a cheap sexual thriller. Malcolm has no sexual scenes which is good for me and bad for the ladies. The way the couple gets caught is a pathetic plot point. I mean leaving the rose sticking out of the tiny trash can so a blind man couldn't miss it. Then the credit card receipt with his name and the condoms on it!? Very sad. It would've worked better if it was some fetish thing or a revenge plot against him - anything except an overly simple way to move the plot along. On the box they try to insinuate that she gets off on making her husband mad. But in their second sex scene she has a bruise and doesn't say it is from her husband. She doesn't ever tell Jim to hit her or get truly rough with him, so it seems like a sham.
    Even though it is a low budget nothing film, Malcolm plays it like it is a $100 million dollar thriller. There is nothing not to love about his performance here. He plays the revenge obsessed man to perfection. You literally can't wait to see what he will do to make Jim's life a living hell. You root for him because who wouldn't do the same thing in the same situation, especially if you had the power he wields? He is in perfect form and an absolute joy as the rich bastard.
    He pretty much destroys Jim's life, but when Jim starts to plot his revenge is when the film goes downhill. Why would we want to root for the hedonistic young jerk who is blasé about his job and thinks he is some kind of ladies man because of one night stands?! There is nothing to like about the guy and the fact he seems to win out in the end is crap. The ending is also a letdown because they don't say what even happened with him and Caroline. It seems like she has left him, but who knows?
    Also the fact that a rich and powerful woman would give up everything she has just because of some hot sex with a young loser is insane. Especially after Roger has bankrupted him - he has no money, no job and no place to live.
    Let's face it - there is really nothing original about this film. It is a typical boy gets girl, boy losses girl, boy wants girl back type crap. The whole key to the plot is Roger and Caroline really only stayed  together for the sake of the son even though they abused each other which is so typical again. The first sex scene is kind of hot because she is crawling on the floor as he gets her doggy style. At least it was something different. But they ruin it with the later cliché scene in the dark and the storm with the only light provided by the flashing lightning on their bodies!? Give me a break! Plus the credits list a body double for her, so it sounds like Joan wasn't even in those scenes. Howell and Severance's performances were nothing inspired and the whole advertising firm looks very dated today as it would been heavily done by computer now.
    It would've been a hell of a lot more fun if Jim had died and then at the end Roger and Caroline are having sex and saying wasn't that fun and that he can't wait for her to pick out the next sucker. A cool twisted ending revealing it was all an elaborate turn on game for them would've been original AND better.

Rating: 6/10

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