‘Fatal Affair’ flawed, yet fulfilling
Fatal Affair Not rated. Running time: 89 minutes. Available on Netflix. 66 1⁄2 out of 4
“Fatal Affair” gives trash a good name. Look at it as a lesson in the bare minimum a movie can do and still provide a fairly satisfying experience.
It presents a compelling situation, not in a way that’s remotely convincing, but it’s still compelling: A married woman almost makes the mistake of having sex with a maniac, who becomes obsessed with her — you know, like a male version of Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction.”
This situation is handled without nuance or psychological insight. The dialogue is so fake that it’s laughable. At one point, the burgeoning maniac, played by Omar Epps, has a session with a psychiatrist who tells him, “Do you remember when you first came to see me for your courtordered anger management?” “Fatal Affair” has lots of lines like that, unreal conversation serving only to convey information to the audience.
Yet none of these flaws is fatal, because “Fatal Affair” has one other advantage, and that’s Nia Long as the woman all these awful things are happening to. Just the placing of the sympathetic Long in this perilous situation becomes just enough to keep you planted in your seat, wanting to see how it all works out.
Long plays Ellie, a San Francisco lawyer who has just moved with her husband (Stephen Bishop) to a big house overlooking the ocean, real estate that had to cost six or seven million, at least, so they’re doing well. And then one day, in the course of her work, Ellie meets a fellow that she knew in college, more than 20 years ago.
David (Epps) seems like a reasonable fellow, though a little too interested in her. They go for a drink after work, and she gets drunk and says some not-so-nice things about her perfectly-nice husband. And then she almost — almost — has sex with David in the ladies’ room, but stops herself at the last minute.
That this mature, level-headed, canny and self-possessed woman would allow herself to be put into such a position is a little hard to believe. What does she see in this guy even to be tempted? It doesn’t make much sense, but it doesn’t have to. Just accept it as the price of admission that allows you to enjoy the rest of the movie.
Without going into specifics, David gradually reveals himself as being completely nuts, not just a little off, but delusional, violent and quite possibly homicidal. He is driven by his obsession for Ellie, which he has maintained for his entire adult life.
Just one teensy-weensy question: If he were obsessed with Ellie since college, why did he wait until he was 45 to crack up? If he were emotionally and romantically fixated on a woman, wouldn’t the dangerous years be the twenties? If he were so intensely driven, why would he go more than 20 long years without contacting her? And why would he keep his obsession a secret all that time?
To its credit, the screenplay attempts to account for part of those 20-plus years, but not all of them, and not convincingly. Considering that this fellow has been cracking up for more than two decades, his self-control is admirable.
In any case, “Fatal Affair” is one of those lucky efforts in which everything good about it is good and everything bad about it is fun. The cheesiness is part of the experience, from the fake lawyer talk that Ellie speaks into her phone – we won’t settle, that offer is ridiculous! — to the inevitable moment when David sneaks into the house and starts sniffing her lingerie.
No, “Fatal Affair” is nowhere near a good movie, but I’ve seen better ones I’ve enjoyed less.
mlasalle@sfchronicle.com