After Dark, My Sweet (1990)

Synopsis: An ex-boxer who has escaped from a mental institution hooks up with a sexy widow, and gets involved with her uncle's plot to kidnap a rich kid.
*The following contains spoilers*
Appraisal: I had already seen this film at a previous occasion, and did not like it much. After I saw that one critic had ranked it as the best film of 1990, I decided to give it another chance. I liked it slightly better on this second viewing, but it's definitely not the best film of 1990, not by a long shot. First off, the good things. The leading actor practically owns the movie, with his intense portrayal of 'Kid' Collins. It's a performance that one does not forget. Also, this film has one of the sexiest sex sequences (sorry for the alliteration) in the history of cinema. Aside from that, the film is worthy mainly for the dark mood, ably sustained throughout the whole movie: everyone may be trying to fool everyone else and no one can be trusted. The problem is that this mind game oscillates between fascinating and downright incomprehensible in what regards to character motivations and shifts of behavior. It adopts an elliptical style in which a lot has to be assumed without having been seen, and that may get a little frustrating. (The plot per se is simple, though; what is complex is what happens inside the characters's minds.) The ending, to give just one example, is quite puzzling, since the woman, who apparently was a deceitful crook who had earlier tried to beat the boy to a pulp (this was done offscreen, so it's an assumption), now was against murdering him (why?).
Rating: 55 (up from 48 on a previous viewing)