The Hot Spot (1990)

	Directed by: Dennis Hopper	COUNTRY USA GENRE Neo-Noir NORWEGIAN TITLE Hetebølge RUNNING TIME 130 minutes
	Produced by: Paul Lewis
	Written by (based on a novel by Charles Williams): Charles Williams Nona Tyson

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Harry Madox	Don Johnson	½
Dolly Harshaw	Virginia Madsen	½
Gloria Harper	Jennifer Connelly
Irene Davey	Debra Cole	-
George Harshaw	Jerry Hardin	-
Frank Sutton	William Sadler	-
Lon Gulick	Charles Martin Smith	-
The Sheriff	Barry Corbin	-

Review

This script based on the Charles Williams novel "Hell Hath No Fury" had been sitting on a shelf since 1962 when Dennis Hopper picked it up and had it modestly modernized into this rather steaming neo-noir starring a sweaty Don Johnson, an over-the-top Virginia Madsen and a young and sensitive Jennifer Connelly. Embedded in The Hot Spot's heat-shimmering cinematography and marvellous score by Jack Nitzsche, featuring, among others, John Lee Hooker, there is a half-clever story waiting to be told with a little more conviction than is done here. Some of the script's best twists and turns are alternately over-embellished by Madsen's performance and underexplored by Hopper, but the picture has that seductive quality that keeps you interested for almost the length of its running time.