Black Widow (1987)

★ 6.2 1h 42m 220 votes IMDb
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Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.

Black Widow

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Cast

Debra Winger
Debra Winger as Alexandra "Alex" Barnes Age 70 · Cleveland Heights, Ohio, USA Mary Debra Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. A three-time Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics...
Theresa Russell
Theresa Russell as Catharine Petersen Age 69 · San Diego, California, USA Theresa Russell (born Theresa Lynn Paup; March 20, 1957) is an American actress. Russell made her film debut in The Last Tycoon (1976), followed by a lead role in Straight Time (1978). She was then ca...
Sami Frey
Sami Frey as Paul Nuytten Age 88 · Paris, France Sami Frey (born Sami Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Algerian and Italian descent. Among the films he starred in are En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud (1993), in which he portrays French poet...
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper as Ben Dumers Died 2010 · Dodge City, Kansas, USA Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. H...
Nicol Williamson
Nicol Williamson as William McCrory Died 2011 · Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK Thomas Nicol Williamson (September 14, 1936 - December 16, 2011) was a British actor. He was once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also describe...
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn as Bruce Age 73 · Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, USA Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He is best known for his Emmy Award-winning performance as John Locke on the TV series Lost (2004–2010...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Jan 06, 2016
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Black Widow is directed by Bob Rafelson and written by Ronald Bass. It stars Debra Winger and Theresa Russell. Music is by Michael Small and cinematography by Conrad L. Hall.

Two women. Catherine marries men for their money, then murders them. The other, Alexandra Barnes is on her tail, getting in close to hopefully expose her crimes...

Rafelson's neo-noir homages the film noir femme fatales of the 40s and 50s with a high degree of success. There's much potency in the screenplay that puts it firmly in the noir universe. Flip flopping the misogyny angles of yesteryear, pic pitches the ultimate femme fatale destroyer of men into a cat and mouse scenario with a sexually repressed opponent - or is she a jealous but secret admirer? The transformation of Winger's dowdy Justice Department Agent into a blossoming lady at Catherine Black Widow's (Russell super sexy and sensuous) side brings in the doppelgänger effect, a good old noir staple. The sexual tension is a constant, particularly when Paul Nuytten (Sami Frey) is brought into proceedings, something which shifts the piece still further into noirville.

There's also other characters straight out of film noir. Be it Alexandra's boss (the always reliable Terry O'Quinn), who's a lech harbouring desires for Alex, or sleazy Private Investigator H Shin (James Hong) who has a needle habit, it's clear that Rafelson and Bass know their noir. Unfortunately most of the play is in daylight, meaning missed opportunities for some psychological shadow play is passed up. Though it should be noted that Hall's photography is slick and tonally in tune, especially when lighting scenes involving Russell as prime focus. It all builds to a splendid finale, the makers pulling us both ways as to where it will lead. Sure, some of the plot devices are weak, but in the main this is sexy, intriguing and tricksy in narrative, whilst tech credits stay at the higher end of the scale. 7/10
kevin2019 10/10 Feb 27, 2024
"Black Widow" belongs in the category which seems to be attempting to recapture and recreate the classic film noir of the 1940's (this impression is subtly reinforced here by Michael Small's suitably evocative musical score). We first had "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1981) and then this was followed by the explicit - and subsequently divisive - sexuality of "Body Heat" (1981), but it is "Black Widow" which successfully comes the closest to achieving the incomparable quality to be found in that glorious by-gone cinematic era. It is a wholly compelling and extremely well constructed film which features some beautiful locations (especially those in exqusite Hawaii) that are absolutely breathtaking (replete as they are with even an impressive volcano eruption at one point) and some gorgeously photographed underwater sequences which must surely be every travel agent's ultimate dream.

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