Review of Zandalee

Introduction

The one sentence in the story summary is a pretty accurate summing up of the film! Zandalee (Erika Anderson) is married to former poet and corporate exec Theirry (Judge Reinhold), but their sex life is a little non-existant at the moment. She needs a spark, she needs the poetry in Thierry to capture her imagination again and remind her why she married him. Unfortunately he seems to have other things on his mind. Back into their New Orleans life steps Thierry`s old friend, Johnny Collins (Nicolas Cage) who has that spark that awakens Zandalee`s sexual needs. When the pair begin an adulterous affair it ultimately leads to Thierry finding out and confronting his friend and wife before setting off a tragic sequence of events.

Video

Presented with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, Zandalee looks okay. The film was made in 1990 so it has a look and feel of something reminiscent of the late 80s. Colours and contrast are okay and there are minimals signs of dirt or other typical film aging faults. While this is widescreen, looking at a few online etailers displays this film as fullscreen so there`s clearly some confusion somewhere. This definately isn`t a pan & scam version.

Audio

We get a plain old Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack which is clear and without any problems. The film has dialogue more than music or other dramatic effects so it`s functional and works.

Features

One long trailer and English subtitles are all that we get. The subtitles are good, although you can`t switch this on and off on the fly which becomes tiresome just to catch a few snatches of misheard dialogue.

Conclusion

Zandalee isn`t a bad film, it`s just not something I would choose to buy or watch again. There`s no problem with Sam Pillsbury`s directing, it`s not over the top and if anything is just straightforward directing to tell a story. The locales in New Orleans provides an interesting backdrop with its Cajun flavours and more should have been made of this.

Here we have an exec with a bored wife. His artisitc boyhood friend stepping into the breach to satisfy the insatiable wife. The exec finds out and confronts them and the story ends with tragedy. All against the backdrop of New Orleans. The concept is interesting, but the script and the acting make it less so here.

There are welcome steamy sex scenes and while it`s nice to see Erika Anderson without any clothes on, once you`ve seen her at it once, you`re not likely to be enthralled to see her naked yet again as the story attempts to remind you of why you`re watching it in the first place. Ah yes, a steamy - yet dull - love triangle southern drama...Where`s the passion? Okay, there`s lustful sex, but there`s not a lot of poetic dialogue here. It`s just dull.

Cast performances are lacklustre with Judge Reinhold`s (Beverly Hills Cop, Vice Versa) poor Southern accent trying to keep in character (without laughing), Erika Anderson`s talent at getting her kit off, or Nicolas Cage`s (Face/Off, Wild At Heart) penchant for just being a bit weird, again. Marisa Tomei and Steve Buscemi put in a surprising appearance if only for a few minutes.

The tragic ending of Zandalee is somewhat predictable and welcome as it was beginning to tire. The film is not compelling enough to watch and is more akin to being a late night Channel 5 movie (if this means anything to you). Zandalee is simply not worth a dime of time.