Alexandra, a data analyst employed by the Justice Department in Washington, notices suspicious parallels between a number of cases in which wealthy middle-aged men have died suddenly and unexpectedly shortly after marrying a younger wife. Although her superiors dismiss these similarities as coincidence, and although all the deaths are officially due to natural causes, Alexandra begins to suspect that one woman, whom she nicknames the "Black Widow", has murdered all these men for their money. Determined to bring the Black Widow to justice, Alexandra tracks her down to Hawaii.
And, of course, she is proved right. It wouldn't be much of a film if it ended with a chastened Alexandra returning to Washington, forced to admit that her bosses were right and that the similarities between the cases were indeed mere coincidence. There is indeed a Black Widow, a woman referred to in the cast list as Catharine, although that is probably only one in a long list of false aliases she uses. (In the film she also goes by the names Marielle, Margaret and Renee). In Hawaii she has found her next intended victim, a hotel owner named Paul. Under the assumed name of Jessica, Alexandra pretends to befriend Catharine, hoping to expose her and to save Paul from the fate of his predecessors. There are, however, to be a couple more twists before the matter is resolved.
Apparently Debra Winger was offered the choice of playing either Alexandra or Catharine, and she chose Alexandra because she couldn't understand Catharine's motivation. I had a similar problem with the film in that I couldn't really fathom Catharine either. She is a serial killer, but serial killers do not normally commit their crimes for money. And if money was her motive, would it not have been easier and safer for her to have lived in wealth and luxury off the fortune left to her by her first husband rather than disappearing and trying to bring of the same trick elsewhere?
The film doesn't do much to help us fathom her. It simply suggests that human nature is unfathomable and that no human being will ever understand any other human being. Nor do we get much help from Theresa Russell, who took on the role after Winger turned it down. Russell's Catharine is a beautiful mask, a perfectly pleasant young woman on the surface who never gives much hint of emotion or of the underlying psychological turmoil which drives her to kill men who have done her no harm- indeed, who have never shown her anything other than love and kindness.
The nearest Catharine comes to any human feeling comes in the second half of the film when she and Alexandra meet in Hawaii. It is clear that Alexandra has become obsessed with her quarry, and Catharine, who is well aware of the real identity of the supposed "Jessica", seems to share this obsession. She even saves Alexandra's life during a diving expedition. There is a curious suggestion of a lesbian attraction between the two women, but nothing is ever made explicit.
This is one of of two thrillers which Winger made in the late eighties in which she played a government investigator who befriends the criminal whom she is investigating, the other being Costa-Gavras's "Betrayed". In that case, however, Winger's character quite clearly falls in love with her target, Gary, and even sleeps with him, before she realises that he is a vicious killer, not the clean-cut all-American boy she took him for.
I am not particularly familiar with the films of Bob Rafelson- indeed, I have only seen one of his other movies, "Five Easy Pieces". That film also contains a mystery about what motivates the central character, a former classical pianist who, for reasons that are never explained, has abandoned his musical career to live the life of a blue-collar worker. That film does, however, contain a commanding central performance from Jack Nicholson; "Black Widow" does not really have anything comparable, although Winger plays her role well. (I was less taken with Russell). It is not a bad film, with some reasonable acting and an ingenious, if not always credible, plot. It is, however, often a baffling one. 6/10.
And, of course, she is proved right. It wouldn't be much of a film if it ended with a chastened Alexandra returning to Washington, forced to admit that her bosses were right and that the similarities between the cases were indeed mere coincidence. There is indeed a Black Widow, a woman referred to in the cast list as Catharine, although that is probably only one in a long list of false aliases she uses. (In the film she also goes by the names Marielle, Margaret and Renee). In Hawaii she has found her next intended victim, a hotel owner named Paul. Under the assumed name of Jessica, Alexandra pretends to befriend Catharine, hoping to expose her and to save Paul from the fate of his predecessors. There are, however, to be a couple more twists before the matter is resolved.
Apparently Debra Winger was offered the choice of playing either Alexandra or Catharine, and she chose Alexandra because she couldn't understand Catharine's motivation. I had a similar problem with the film in that I couldn't really fathom Catharine either. She is a serial killer, but serial killers do not normally commit their crimes for money. And if money was her motive, would it not have been easier and safer for her to have lived in wealth and luxury off the fortune left to her by her first husband rather than disappearing and trying to bring of the same trick elsewhere?
The film doesn't do much to help us fathom her. It simply suggests that human nature is unfathomable and that no human being will ever understand any other human being. Nor do we get much help from Theresa Russell, who took on the role after Winger turned it down. Russell's Catharine is a beautiful mask, a perfectly pleasant young woman on the surface who never gives much hint of emotion or of the underlying psychological turmoil which drives her to kill men who have done her no harm- indeed, who have never shown her anything other than love and kindness.
The nearest Catharine comes to any human feeling comes in the second half of the film when she and Alexandra meet in Hawaii. It is clear that Alexandra has become obsessed with her quarry, and Catharine, who is well aware of the real identity of the supposed "Jessica", seems to share this obsession. She even saves Alexandra's life during a diving expedition. There is a curious suggestion of a lesbian attraction between the two women, but nothing is ever made explicit.
This is one of of two thrillers which Winger made in the late eighties in which she played a government investigator who befriends the criminal whom she is investigating, the other being Costa-Gavras's "Betrayed". In that case, however, Winger's character quite clearly falls in love with her target, Gary, and even sleeps with him, before she realises that he is a vicious killer, not the clean-cut all-American boy she took him for.
I am not particularly familiar with the films of Bob Rafelson- indeed, I have only seen one of his other movies, "Five Easy Pieces". That film also contains a mystery about what motivates the central character, a former classical pianist who, for reasons that are never explained, has abandoned his musical career to live the life of a blue-collar worker. That film does, however, contain a commanding central performance from Jack Nicholson; "Black Widow" does not really have anything comparable, although Winger plays her role well. (I was less taken with Russell). It is not a bad film, with some reasonable acting and an ingenious, if not always credible, plot. It is, however, often a baffling one. 6/10.