Yikes, talk about a nasty woman! Man, few modern-day actresses come across this film-noir tough as Linda Fiorentino. She's brutal: ill-mannered, foul- mouthed, has no principles, a totally twisted view of life and no conscience. Other than that, she's a nice girl.

Even worse than her is the ending of the film, in which this totally-evil woman gets away with her deeds. Yes, a happy ending for the bad guys and, boy, do the sick critics love that. Thus, you'll never a see bad review from Maltin, Ebert or the boys. They love it when evil prevails.

Fiorentino is supposed to be sexy but, speaking personally, I don't find a skinny woman with no figure, a husky voice with a foul mouth and an "attitude" sexy in the least bit.

Yet, having said all of the above, the movie was very interesting and somewhat involving. Once it starts, it's tough to put down. Peter Berg plays a small-town sap who is captivated by this beast from Hell and pays for it.

This is about as tough as modern-day film noir gets, a mean-edged flick with no sympathetic characters.....but it can be fascinating to watch, wondering what this woman is going to do next.

Cunning, devious, and alluring telemarketing manager Bridget Gregory (a terrifically tart performance by Linda Fiorentino) makes off with a huge sum of money after convincing her physician husband Clay (nicely played to the wormy hilt by Bill Pullman) to sell pharmaceutical cocaine. Bridget hides out in a small country town and gets involved with meek local Mike Swale (a likeable turn by Peter Berg).

Director John Dahl relates the intricate and involving story at a constant pace, maintains a blithely immoral tone throughout, and tops things off with a wickedly funny sense of pitch-black humor. Steve Barancik's clever script revels in the vividly cold'n' cruel world it creates and offers zero potential for redemption for its deliciously vicious anti-heroine, who not only manages to twist various weak and gullible men to her gleefully evil will, but also gets away with it, too. (This film's total dearth of sentiment is definitely one of its key assets.) Moreover, there are sharp supporting contributions from J.T. Walsh as shrewd lawyer Frank Griffith and Bill Nunn as no-nonsense private eye Harlan. But it's Fioentino's spot-on sexy'n'sassy portrayal of one of the single most sly, seductive, and predatory femme fatales to ever slink and connive her away across the screen that really makes this movie hum. Further enhanced by Jeffrey Jur's crisp cinematography and Joseph Vitarelli's smooth jazzy score, this honey overall rates highly as a 90's noir gem.

Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) is a telemarketing manager running a croaked boiler room. Her husband Clay Gregory (Bill Pullman) sells stolen pharmaceuticals for a big payday. She steals his money and leaves NYC. She stops at Beston on her way to Chicago. Mike Swale (Peter Berg) is tired of small town girls. She walks into the bar and he's smitten. Her lawyer Frank Griffith (J.T. Walsh) tells her to stay put while he starts the divorce. She gets a job as Wendy Kroy but Mike happens to work at the company. Clay is desperate to pay off a loan shark and manages to track her to an area code. Then he figures out that New York backwards is Wen Kroy and sends Harlan (Bill Nunn) to find Wendy.

The bar scene is terrific and it's all about Linda Fiorentino. That goes for the whole movie. Her character is a real piece. Peter Berg is a good sucker and Bill Pullman is a good sleaze. It's surprisingly funny at times. It's all attitude and Fiorentino is dripping in it. Her dialog is neo-noir and snappy. I love the dark turns and her glee with making those turns.