Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

The Pleasure Principle (1991)

Director: David Cohen

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Freelance journalist Dick (Firth) can't resist dames, and dames can't resist him. Causing him varying degrees of hormonal distress are Sammy (Baxter), a dippy divorcee just waiting for Dick to come and free her sexuality; ex-wife Anne (Mair-Thomas), now a born-again radical lesbian; and two women whose elegance and sophistication are signalled by their coffee-ad eyebrow-arching: brain surgeon Judith (Gwynne) and lawyer Charlotte (Anthony). The theme of the improbable Don Juan has been thoroughly overhauled by the likes of Truffaut and Woody Allen, and this adds nothing new. It knee-jerks smugly at all the right themes, acknowledging its hero's new-man machismo, but the voice-over continually invites the male viewer to share its wide-eyed bewilderment at the Mystery That Is Woman. The women are stereotyped and manipulative, perverse harridans or cuddlesome love-bunnies. More pain than pleasure.

Author: JRo 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: David Cohen

Producer: David Cohen

Cast: Peter Firth, Lynsey Baxter, Hadyn Gwynne, Lysette Anthony, Sara Mair-Thomas, Ian Hogg full cast

Genre(s): Comedy

Duration: 100 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.