Atty Tude So I'm looking for an oldie to watch on a boring afternoon. I ran into this one on YouTube and since I like Michael Cain I decided to give it a go. I wish I'd given it a miss, instead.The film is nothing to write home about. But it's Sigourney Weaver's character that annoyed me beyond endurance. She plays Dr. Lauren Slaughter, a super intelligent, witty, educated woman, who is a research fellow at the Arab-Anglo Institute in London, and who decides to go into prostitution to fight boredom and make ends meet. At first you think she's honest and pragmatic about it. She's bored with her job, she needs the money, she turns tricks for an escort agency. That I could have respected, if that's the word I want.Instead, she treats us to an endlessly snarly, hackneyed, pseudo- feminist attitude, which is painful to watch. She eschews makeup and nice clothes (her wits are enough to dazzle clients), and spouts commonplace, moral drivel to her "employers" and all her dates, as if to say, 'Look, I'm still intelligent, educated; and I'm a liberated woman, too, not an object.' It's not prostitution if you want to do it, you see. Men will respect you in the morning. Seriously? You're still turning tricks for money, dear. Men still pay to use your body. You won't understand my complaint if you are a man, or if you are a modern-day feminist (all the latter understand is 'You don't criticize women. Ever.' And they think that's enough to make them good feminists). But I was annoyed and bored to half to death.And in the end, in spite of all her intelligence, education, smart-as-a-whip comebacks ... Dr. Slaughter still gets conned, big time. Aww.

travis_iii There was something about this film that intrigued me deeply. The day after watching it I paid a visit to my local Waterstones to try and solve the mystery once and for all. I wanted to know if Paul Theroux had written all that awful, stilted, clichéd dialogue (I actually laughed involuntarily at a couple of exchanges) or was it some sort of set up? Was the screenplay for Half Moon Street a literary mugging of the acclaimed authors' work (he has his enemies you know), or was the original story (Dr Slaughter) just as unbelievable, unsubtle and irritating as the film? I was puzzled by something else too. I knew the dialogue was bad but why did Sigourney Weaver's part seem so much more wooden than Michael Caine's? Were her lines being tampered with while she was having her hair done? Was Sir Michael somehow involved in the whole intrigue, or is he such a fine screen actor that he is able to rise above bad writing and deliver a reasonably believable performance in the most adverse of circumstances? I felt a pang of sympathy for Sigourney. She certainly had had a tough job on her hands not only having to spout forth such hackneyed drivel but also having to give depth to a thoroughly unappealing and one-dimensional character. I started to formulate a theory that perhaps Jackie Collins was somehow involved in rewriting the part of this supposed independent and intelligent women, so ham-fisted was it; but who had hired her? Who had it in for Sigourney so badly? As I neared the counter to pay for my copy of Dr Slaughter I began to realise that I was falling prey to the kind of half-baked conspiracy theories that often pass for the plots of films like Half Moon Street. What's more, it started to dawn on me that perhaps I had been lured into watching it by the prospect of seeing the beautiful Sigourney in various (often gratuitous) states of undress; these included a shower scene and a scene where she pulls on a tight white cotton singlet; were the producers cynically cashing in on the whole Alien/Ripley thing?. I was starting to feel exploited and vaguely sullied (pretty much like Sigourney Weaver must have felt). The DVD had been free, but upon discovering that the book was not, I made my excuses and left.I can't advise anyone whether or not to watch this film; I suppose it really depends on how valuable your time is. It's not an erotic film though, if that's what you're expecting - psychological depth is conspicuous by its absence. If you're a Sigourney fan then I think you'll be so disappointed by her wooden performance that her charisma and sheer physical allure won't compensate. The film is dated (if nothing else was amiss with Half Moon Street then the soundtrack would kill it single-handedly), the plot is confused and boring, and the characters lack depth.

sol- This starts off quite well, with some interesting ideas about traditions, rituals and values in different societies, however about halfway into it, the film starts to fall down, triggered by the introduction of thriller elements that just do not quite work. Sigourney Weaver delivers a strong performance throughout though. The rest of the performers do not do much out of the ordinary, but Weaver manages to bring a sense of credibility to her part, although she is too often topless. The partial nudity involving her is excessive for the film's story, but otherwise, she is great to have on screen, and her attractiveness does not hurt. There is not much of a directing vision to the material, the story is only half-good and there are probably a few other minor problems to be found. Sigourney Weaver certainly enlivens the material however, and the film is not bad to start with. For Weaver fans, it is definitely worth a look, however even for others it is satisfactory enough film-making to be perhaps worth checking out.

peacham The premise was good. A young, attractive scientist moonlights as a call girl for money for scientific research and gets caught in an international web of intrigue and danger. However,as good as Sigourney Weaver and Michael Caine are,the film is dull.The supporting cast walks theough their roles and by the time the climax comes Its too late. Actually the only well done scene is the climax.When the counter agent is finally revealed (actor's identity no revealed her for spoiler reasons)He takes Weaver by surprise and one of the most realistic fight scenes in a film occurs...ending with Weaver being rendered helpless by a brutal punch in the stomach. the scene is so real that it seems like it belonged in another film. My advice is to skip this one..A Valiant attempt..but a big miss.