Bad Company (1995) Touchstone/Suspense-Thriller RT: 108 minutes Rated R (strong sexual content, graphic shootings, language) Director: Damian Harris Screenplay: Ross Thomas Music: Carter Burwell Cinematography: Jack N. Green Release date: January 20, 1995 (US) Cast: Ellen Barkin, Laurence Fishburne, Frank Langella, Michael Beach, Gia Carides, David Ogden Stiers, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Spalding Gray, James Hong, Michael Murphy, Tegan West. Box Office: $3.6M (US)
Rating: *** ½
I HATED Bad Company when it first came out. I could go into all the reasons I didn’t like it- e.g. it was way too slow- but why waste valuable time and space? The point is I like it now. Why? Because now I get what director Damian Harris (Deceived) is going for with his thriller set in the world of corporate sabotage, espionage and other illicit activities. It’s NOT a sexy potboiler along the lines of Basic Instinct or Sliver. In this world, sex is merely a tool used to gain something. It has characters who are always up to no good. They lie, deceive, blackmail, extort, plot, scheme, double-cross and kill. They never have good intentions. It’s always about money, greed and power. There is nobody to root for. Everybody is equally rotten and corrupt. It’s neo-noir. Now that I understand this, Bad Company is rather brilliant even if it is this side of trashy.
Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do with It) plays Nelson Crowe, a disgraced ex-CIA operative who gets a job with the Grimes Organization (nicknamed “The Toolshed”), an intelligence outfit in the private sector that specializes in the kinds of activities described above. Almost immediately, second-in-command Margaret Wells (Barkin, Sea of Love) is out to seduce him. Why? Because she wants his help murdering their boss Vic Grimes (Langella, Body of Evidence). While they plot their hostile takeover, their top client Walter Curl (Gray, Swimming to Cambodia) needs their help with a $25 million class action lawsuit brought against his company for poisoning a small town’s water supply. The plan is to offer a $1 million bribe to a State Supreme Court judge (Stiers, M.A.S.H.) with a gambling addiction in exchange for voting in Curl’s favor.
I wouldn’t dream of revealing ANY of the plot’s twists and turns. Just know that you can’t trust anybody in Bad Company. You can’t trust the words that come out of their mouths either. Same goes for their actions. Everything is a lie, double-cross or means to a wicked end. At times, it’s hard keeping up with all that’s going on. It’s a little slow too. But at the same time, it’s fun in a semi-trashy sort of way. For all of Harris’ high aspirations, there’s no getting around the ludicrous plot and shameless overacting.
In regard to the latter, the biggest offender is Gray whose loopy performance walks the line between comical and embarrassing. His character is a complete mental case. He’s a germophobe prone to assuming a fetal position on the floor upon receiving bad news. It’s weird and out of place yet it seems right at home in a movie that defies conventional categorization. Another memorable performance comes from Australian actress Gia Carides (Strictly Ballroom) as the judge’s Southern belle mistress. I can’t go into detail without spoilers so just take my word for it.
There really isn’t any heat between the two leads which I’m sure is the point. If most of the acting in Bad Company seems formal and mannered, it’s because the characters live their lives this way. Remember that it takes place within the intelligence community. These people are used to being guarded; it’s second nature to them. They deceive as easily as they breathe. So it is that when Fishburne and Barkin have sex, it’s cold and without passion. Barkin doesn’t even take off her clothes. She radiates a different kind of sexuality than she did in The Big Easy and Sea of Love. Fishburne plays it cool, real cool, as Crowe. When he smiles, it’s reptilian. It sends chills. You don’t know exactly what he’s thinking but it can’t be good. Langella is also good as the agency head seemingly unaware of the plot against him. All he knows is that Margaret would rather f*** than fly fish.
No review of Bad Company would be complete without mention of the sleek production design. The interiors are as cold as the characters. Their personal spaces clearly define them. Look at Crowe’s house, the only place to sit is an exercise machine. It tells us he’s the kind of guy incapable of relaxing; he always has to be doing something. Although the action takes place in Seattle, the movie was mainly shot in Vancouver. Canadian cities always look so clean, a characteristic that enhances the movie much in the same way Canadian locations define the films of David Cronenberg.
Yes, Bad Company is trash, but it’s the classy kind. It has a style all its own, one that not everybody will respond to. I get that. I didn’t like the movie on my first viewing but subsequent viewings (at least 3) have made me a fan. I love the labyrinthine plot and varying acting styles. I love the dopey dialogue and the dead serious manner in which it’s presented. My best advice is to approach with caution and watch with patience. It all pays off in the end. Trust me.
