Extremities

Extremities is based on a Broadway play of the same name, and stars Farrah Fawcett and James Russo. Its stage origin is painfully obvious, as it suffers from being too wordy, having very few characters or sets, and worse, the players still think they are on stage, as they play the parts too large, and are very careful not to step on each others lines, making conversations seem very stilted.

The plot: Fawcett is nearly raped in her car, and she escapes and files a police report, but is informed that they won't find him, and even if they did, there was not enough evidence to hold him. The police don't even much care that the rapist has her wallet.

Russo, the rapist, shows up at the house she shares with two roommates, and has a full day of torture planned. Fawcett manages to gain the upper hand, and is fairly serious about doing what the police said they couldn't.

NUDITY REPORT

Fawcett has a definite nip slip while struggling with Russo, and a good pokie near the start of the film. There is also a brief shot where the rapist takes a breast out and sucks a nipple. Some think this must be a body double since there is no face in the shot. I think they may be Farrah for the following reasons. First, she does have the nip slip, so has already shown her nipple in the film. Second, there is no double in the credits for her, although a Russo stand-in is credited. Third, there are dirt spots on her back in the nipple kissing scene that are still there later when she is at the stove, and her face is visible in that scene. There is a shower scene, but it is cropped well above her breasts, even in the 4/3 version.

DVD info from Amazon.

widescreen anamorphic 1.85 plus a full-screen version

The story had some promise with the women finally takes control element, as well as a theme of victims lacking credibility (her roommates don't completely believe her), but there was not enough story or pace for a film here.

The Critics Vote

Rotten Tomatoes summary. five articles on file

Farrah was nominated for a Golden Globe in this reprise of her off-Broadway role.

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 5.8/10

with their dollars: US domestic gross $13 million

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C-.