What a difference 2 1/2 centuries make: the coy tableside flirtations of Tom Jones and Mrs. Waters were just that — a greasy-fingered prelude to the bedroom. In 9 1/2 Weeks, director Adrian Lyne’s strangely frothy and lightweight portrayal of one man’s kinky obsessions, the eating-as-lovemaking scenes are silly, contrived, and art-directed to the point of distraction: bathed in the cool white light of a refrigerator, Kim Basinger becomes the willing canvas for Mickey Rourke’s high-calorie depravities. But we’ll admit it — once you get past the imagined voice of a dad calling from the den: “Do you know how much electricity costs? Close the damn door!” — the movie can be a bit of dopey fun.
INTERESTING FACT: The film inspired both a sequel, 1997’s Another 9 1/2 Weeks and a prequel, The First 9 1/2 Weeks, released direct to video the following year.
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