The Friend or Dafoe?

by Tom Barr | Published December 4, 1993

Prior to Body of Evidence's theatrical release a rumor floated that if the film did not perform well, the producers had an NC-17 version waiting in the wings. Supposedly it contained some nasty stuff which was laundered from the theater version.

While the NC-17 version has not appeared, video viewers can choose between an R-rated and an unrated edition, which according to the box "contains footage never seen before."

Not much, apparently, for the unrated version is only two minutes longer than the theatrical release. Except for a prolonged masturbation scene and an oral sex sequence, the two are identical. Given Madonna's image and her seemingly unlimited enthusiasm for exploring sex in all of its deviations, the extra footage is hardly needed to establish her character's credibility.

Set in Portland, Oregon, which seems to be perpetually draped in fog and smog, the film is a 140 minute exercise in tedium and improbability.

When her lover dies hand-cuffed to his bed watching them making love on videotape, his secretary Anne Archer tells prosecutor Joe Mantegna that Madonna murdered him. Mantegna bases his case on the theory that-to put it more delicately than the movie doesshe literally loved her man to death.

Attorney Willem Dafoe defends her, because he believes her when she says "A big part of my life has been taken away and people will say it was dirty." He also finds her irresistible and soon they're into all sorts of sexual gymnastics including a bit of bondage, sadomasochism and anal sex.

The bulk of the movie is devoted to a trial, which more or less confirms everything we already know. To break the monotony, a nude' or sex scene is thrown in about every 10 minutes.

The sex and trial are supposed to build suspense as to whether Madonna will beat the rap and how Dafoe will prove that she really didn't do it. He doesn't have to, thanks to some sloppy research on Mantegna's part and Dafoe's diligent assistant who sticks with the sex videotape to the end.

Meanwhile, you're more likely to wonder whether Dafoe will survive being burned with hot candle wax and sex on broken glass to make his final pitch to the jury. As he risks career and family by continuing the affair, you also wonder if this simpleton really has the smarts to save himself or defend anyone.

The final revelation reveals an elaborate scheme which to make it work, depended on everything falling into place just as it did. Anyone who was bright enough to dream it up would also realize that there were too many factors which depended on chance, and would never have tried it in the first place.

Everyone acts as if they had their minds on something else- possibly their careers. Only Madonna seems confident, perhaps because she knows that regardless of the movie is received, the character fits nicely with the image that has made her so successful. Mantegna's far enough down in the credits that it really isn't his movie, so he's fairly comfortable as the prosecutor. Dafoe and Julianne Moore, who plays his wife, both look worried. Anne Archer, who had a promising future before this, seems so desperate and uptight that one has the feeling that she's constantly searching for a way out of this mess.

Light Sleeper, with Dafoe and Susan Sarandon, picked up a three-and-a-half star rating from USA Today and thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert. Although it has flaws, the film features a fine, sensitive performance from Dafoe and a strong, restrained one from Sarandon. Both reach beyond their personas to create real, believable people, who have worked together for several years and are going in separate directions.

Writer/director Paul Schrader's script has Sarandon heading a small threeperson drug dealing business, with Defoe as the delivery and pick-up man. "We're family," she says, and as the fihn progresses we do have the feeling that they really care about other people, and worry about each others futures. More concerned with exploring relationships and character than dealing drugs, the film is moody, slow moving, and shot mostly at night in New York.

Unfortunately, Schrader was not as successful in creating a story to support his characters. After Sarandon tells Dafoe that she's quitting dealing and going into cosmetics, he wanders the streets for a while, and visits psychic reader Mary

Beth Hurt.   The character is superfluous and ultimately hurts the film, as the psychic exists mainly to throw out a few red herrings, and to assure him that "everything you need is around you. The only danger is inside you." By then its been pretty well established that Defoe has never thought o£ his future beyond a vague, spur-of-the-moment desire to get into the music business.

During his wanderings he meets Dana Delany. Several years ago they were lovers when both were addicts. After they make love, she goes back to drugs, takes up with one of his clients, and commits suicide. Her transformation happens so fast, you're left feeling that a sequence was probably left out of the final cut. For no apparent reason Defoe believes she was murdered, and the film winds down as kind of a half-hearted revenge trip motivated by guilt. MM

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