Classic Movie Review: 'Intersection'

Intersection (1994)

Directed by Mark Rydell

Written by David Rayfiel, Marshall Brickman

Starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Lolita Davidovich, Martin Landau

Release Date January 21st, 1994

Published January 21st, 1994

Intersection stars Richard Gere as architect Vincent Eastman. Having recently left his wife for another woman, we meet Vincent just waking up from a night of passion with Olivia (Lolita Davidovich). The two talk about building a new home and Vincent cautions Olivia not to push things too quickly as he still has a daughter with his ex-wife, Sally (Sharon Stone), who is also his business partner. To say that Vincent's life is complicated is an understatement. At work, he and Sally have a chilly relationship where she tries to stay focused on tasks and schedules and he tries and fails to be remote.

And that's where the story begins. From there, Vincent will wrestle with the idea of fully committing to Olivia, building their dream home on a cliff side property he purchased for them, and building a family. But, there is also the pull of a full life he once had with Sally, a history that is still remarkably present due to their business entanglements. And then there is Vincent's daughter, Meagan (future House star Jennifer Morrison), a 14 year old who is struggling with her parents being apart. It's implied that she may have an eating disorder but like the two lead actresses in Intersection, we won't learn much about her that isn't about her feelings for Vincent.

Do you know what I find impossible to care about or invest in? Whether a rich, handsome, wishy-wash ass man like Vincent ends up with either Sharon Stone or Lolita Davidovich. Truly, do you root for him to win the lottery or win the lottery. He may be conflicted here but that conflict fails to translate beyond the character. None of the three main characters are very interesting. Vincent is a cypher, he's an empty suit. He's a blank behind the eyes guy whose allegiance to one woman or another is based on a whim or which way the wind is blowing.

Structurally, Intersection is a mess. The film proceeds from Vincent getting into violent car crash. The rest of the movie is his life flashing before his eyes, shifting between time with his wife and time with Olivia, as if fate wants him to choose which hot lady to be with before it potentially kills him in a wreck. This isn't a terrible idea, I guess, but the film builds a dozen or so flashbacks inside what is already essentially flashback. It can be confounding trying to recall where you are in the timeline of Intersection as some of these flashbacks are sloppily set up and paid off.

The women of Intersection get the short end of the stick. Sharon Stone and Lolita Davidovich are two remarkable beauties but each is reduced to their function in the life of a not particularly interesting man. Each woman exists as a path for this unremarkable, rich, over-privileged manchild to choose between. Neither is given much of a personality of their own. Each seems to be waiting for Vincent to make up his mind and admit that they are the love of his life. This makes the ending of the film maddening as director Mark Rydell crafts a wishy washy ending that is all things to all three characters. Well, except for Vincent, but no spoilers.

Intersection is a dimwitted, sloppy melodrama that deserves its status as a mostly forgotten, middle of the road, box office hit. Intersection is the subject of the latest edition of the I Hate Critics 1994 Podcast, a spinoff of the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast. Each week, myself and my co-hosts, Gen-Z'er M.J and Gen-X'er Amy, talk about a movie that was released 30 years ago that weekend. It's a great insight into how movies and culture have changed in just the past 30 years. You can find the I Hate Critics 1994 Podcast on the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast feed, wherever you listen to Podcasts.

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