Raw Heat

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/23/2003 Run time: 92 minutes Rating: Pg13

It gradually dawns on therapist Tess Parker (JoBeth Williams) that the shocking claims her patient Carla (Virginia Madsen) makes about a former lover dovetail to a startling degree with facts she learns about Paul Tomlinson (Pierce Brosnan), the smooth English professor she's currently wacky over. Is Paul merely a feckless womanizer, or are there darker secrets lurking about his former wife's demise? You won't care if you're a Pierce Brosnan fan (and if you aren't, you still won't find out), because this made-for-TV erotic thriller is basically a vehicle for his talents. There is a solid performance by Brosnan, who cleverly uses deficiencies in the dialogue to suggest his character's duplicity. The lovely and nervous Virginia Madsen is always in search of an emotional memory not hinted at in the script. JoBeth Williams looks like she'd rather be saying, "Don't go into the light!" Jagged Edge meets Spellbound, then gets bored and has 9½ Weeks over for the weekend; they get drunk late at night and try to pretend they're variously North by Northwest and Suspicion. Plunders the most unmistakable of Hitchcock set pieces to string together numerous erotic interludes, surprisingly to no ill effect. --Jim Gay