9 1/2 Weeks gives bad movies a boner

9 1/2 Weeks (1986) stars Mickey Rourke and Kim Bassinger as a couple, and I use that word loosely, who engage in a series of progressively more and more extreme sex acts that eventually shakes her soul and does nothing to him.

The movie is a 2 hour long love song to BDSM.  The characters, again I use that word loosely, only serve to act out the writers imagination.  Who they are is irrelevant, only that they are engaging in some seriously fun and sensual sex that happens to involve a lot of submission.  Nothing drives the characters and their reactions to certain situations is never explained.  Elizabeth (Bassinger) eventually can't handle the relationship and runs away crying only it is never explained why she breaks, why she can't handle what was up to that point a pleasurable and sexually fulfilling relationship.  We don't know why John likes to seduce women, only that he's very intense, works on Wall Street, and is uber-masculine.

The acting is terrible.  Bassinger is okay but it's hard to do much when the script is so lame.  Rourke is awful.  He wrote the book on underacting and understatement with this role.  Whenever he spoke I had to turn up the volume on my television.  Adrian Lyne, the director (Flashdance, Indecent Proposal) has nothing to work with but does a capable job of filming some really erotic scenes and conveying at least one thing, sexual desire.  Since the screenplay was nominated for a Razzie, it's surprising Lyne was able to do anything with the script.

Skip this movie unless you want to see Bassinger's tits and her Razzie nominated role for worst actress.