Bad Influence

Bad Influence casts James Spader as Michael Boll, an uptight executive whose comfortable life is seriously shaken up by a mysterious and charismatic figure named Alex (Rob Lowe) – with the movie detailing the chaos that inevitably ensues as Alex’s behavior grows more and more menacing. It’s clear that Bad Influence doesn’t become interesting until about the halfway mark, as the movie, prior to that point, essentially comes off as a fairly generic story about a burgeoning friendship between two very different people – with both Spader and Lowe unable to transform their somewhat one-dimensional characters into wholeheartedly compelling figures. And although Michael’s transformation from straightlaced everyman to violent criminal occurs awfully quickly, Bad Influence admittedly improves substantially once Alex drops his charming facade and becomes a flat-out villain – with Lowe’s entertainingly sinister performance going a long way towards keeping things interesting. (It’s odd, however, that Alex’s sociopathic behavior is never satisfactorily explained; ie what’s his motive for all this?) The engaging atmosphere doesn’t last long, unfortunately, as scripter David Koepp offers up a generic third act that devolves into one long cat-and-mouse chase sequence – with the inevitable climax arriving with more of a whimper than a bang. It’s ultimately difficult not to wish filmmaker Curtis Hanson had focused more on Alex’s malevolent shenanigans, as there’s little doubt that Bad Influence fares best whenever Spader’s character is being harassed and attacked by his newfound nemesis.

**1/2 out of ****