Single White Female

Based on a novel by John Lutz, Single White Female follows Bridget Fonda’s Allison Jones as she decides to get a roommate in the wake of her breakup with Steven Weber’s Sam Rawson – with said roommate (Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Hedra Carlson) inevitably progressing from affable and friendly to dark and sinister (and dangerous). It’s a fairly irresistible premise that’s employed to watchable yet far-from-engrossing effect by Barbet Schroeder, as the filmmaker, working from Don Roos’ screenplay, has infused Single White Female with a decidedly lackadaisical feel that is, generally speaking, at odds with the lurid subject matter – with Schroeder’s patient approach especially problematic during the movie’s rather sluggish first half (ie one can’t help but wish Schroeder would just get on with it, already). It’s clear, then, that the picture benefits substantially from Fonda and Leigh’s strong work in the central roles, as the actresses ensure that their respective characters never become the one-dimensional stereotypes often associated with films of this ilk (and there’s little doubt, as well, that the periphery cast boasts equally strong work from folks like Stephen Tobolowsky and Peter Friedman). The movie improves considerably as it progresses into its comparatively electrifying (and surprisingly action-heavy) third act, which does secure Single White Female‘s place as a thoroughly erratic early-’90s thriller.

**1/2 out of ****