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The Movie:
Sometimes, I just want a good laugh. That's when I turn to bad movies like "Kiss Of Fire", a lousy movie that actually was made by a major studio (Miramax). Another one of the studio's many titles that have sat on the shelf until a video release, this film has one very enjoyable element in the performance of Christina Applegate("Married With Children") - other than that, the movie goes absolutely nowhere.
The film starts by introducing us to Claudine Van Deusen(Applegate), an exotic dancer who also works around a local motel. When a drifter named Stefano Mauri comes into town, he takes a job at the motel and begins to seek romance with Claudine. Their relationship is about as dull as watching paint dry, and the two actors have little chemistry.
And the movie has little plot. The 90 minute running time is literally, the two spending time together wandering around, talking about nothing in particular. Actually, that's about it. With little "fire" between the two, a blank screen would probably equally engaging. If there's one thing decent about the film (and yes, there literally is one thing decent about the film), it's the widescreen cinematography of Luca Bigazzi, whose warm, beautiful images capture the Savannah, GA locations well.
A dull, boring film. I can hardly believe that Miramax would make a film like this. Although recently they've been releasing a lot of their shelf titles directly to video, they haven't been quite this terrible.
The DVD
VIDEO: I'll give Miramax credit for offering a remarkably good anamorphic transfer to this remarkably bad movie. The film actually contains some bold, good-looking cinematography at times, and it looks strong here; almost the entire film is perfectly sharp, although there's a handful of scenes that are slightly on the soft side. Detail is very good at times, and clarity is never lacking. Colors are really solid looking - well-saturated and warm, with no problems whatsoever. Black level is strong, as well.
There are some very slight traces of pixelation noticable once or twice, but that's the only fault I noticed; this is otherwise a really smooth, sharp transfer that impressed me.
SOUND: The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is a pretty odd one, indeed. For the most part, I needed to turn up the audio to really begin to hear the dialogue. Then the music would come on and I'd have to turn the audio down again; the music sounds pleasing on its own, though - clear and dynamic. There's little of much interest here; the film is almost all dialogue.
MENUS:: Bland menus with a picture of Applegate being the one and only image presented.
EXTRAS: Nothing.
Final Thoughts: A movie where practically nothing happens for 90 minutes. Picture quality is suprisingly good, but sound became somewhat annoying. Definitely skip this one.
Film Grade
The Film F
DVD Grades
Video 93/A = (372/400 possible points)
Audio: 79/C+ = (316/400 possible points)
Extras: 0/F = (0/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 76/C = (228/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1056/1600
DVD GRADE:D/66%
FILM GRADE: F
DVD GRADE: D
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