Review of Hot Spot, The

Introduction

Dennis Hopper`s sixth(!) film as director sits quietly along with the 100+ that he has appeared in during the last 50 years. I never knew that he`d directed so many, and had never heard of this film before. The Hot Spot is another title from MGM`s back catalogue, which they are steadily putting out on DVD.

It stars 1980s cop TV show icon Don Johnson (anyone remember him for anything other than Miami Vice and marrying Melanie Griffith twice?), and he gets mixed up with Virginia Madsen (who you might recognise, but you don`t know where from) and Jennifer Connelly (ditto, but your memory may be jogged from her role in A Beautiful Mind which sent awards showering down on her, including an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress). Fans of The X Files will also spot Deep Throat (better known as Jerry Hardin). The plot is briefly outlined up above so I won`t delve much deeper.

Video

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, which varies quite a bit. At times it all looks nice, but then you`ll spot some more grain, dust or dirt to distract the eye. There are some good colours present, and detail is often good, but some of it is wiped out by the grain. There are quite a few dark scenes, but this film is supposed to be "noir" so they are intentional. An average transfer overall, but certainly watchable - maybe too many studios are raising the bar with their presentation of older films on DVD.

Audio

A DD2.0 soundtrack, which again is average, but fares rather better than the video transfer. The highlight of it all is the John Lee Hooker/Miles Davis soundtrack, which is very blues based as you might expect given those artists. This lends the right kind of tone and atmosphere to the film.

The only niggle is that the dialogue is sometimes a little drowned out by other goings on. You can also choose from French, Italian, German and Spanish soundtracks, and a variety of weird dubs.

Features

Just a full frame trailer. I really would have liked to see more, even on a back catalogue title.

Conclusion

Another day, another MGM back catalogue title.

My emotions varied when watching the film. It`s very slow paced, but it still makes a few jumps in terms of plot. I started out not liking it, then I got into it a bit, then it got a bit predictable, and then it went for a cop-out, thinly disguised as an ending. And in between everyone smoked a lot of cigarettes.

The leads were all convincing enough in their roles and there`s some violence and more than enough nudity to warrant an 18 rating. But in the end it`s just not the noir classic that some would have me believe. Fans of any of the leads might want to rent it out of curiosity, but if you want noir, pick the excellent Chinatown instead.

An average film, an average DVD.