MASQUERADE: Blu-ray (Michael I. Levy/Metro-Goldwy-Mayer, 1988) Kino Lorber

A few steamy scenes with the uber-sexy Kim Cattrall, a narrow wreck between a speeding Ferrari and a lamp post, and, fireball explosion aboard a yacht, help to liven up Bob Swaim's Masquerade (1988) a rather meandering, though amiable thriller set against the moneyed backdrop of the Hamptons, with some stunning location work done near Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Southhampton, and Narragansett. Writers Dick Wolf (of Law & Order fame) and Larry Brody iron out the many kinks in this perversely twisted lover's triangle turned murderous. David Watkins' cinematography provides some rather alluring eye candy along the way too. Ditto for Cattrall’s gratuitous full-frontal – an incredible body, largely wasted in a story that is decidedly anything but a work of art. This film is fun, but hampered by some rather hammy acting that never entirely gets off the ground. Masquerade stars ‘then’ resident teen heartthrob and bad boy, Rob Lowe as yachtsman Tim Whalen, a no-account drifter who lands a lucrative gig racing the sailboat 'Obsession' for Granger Morrison (Brian Davies). Morrison's a rich heel, so involved with sailing he is oblivious to the fact his wife, Brooke (Kim Cattrall) is having a rather torrid affair with Tim. Meanwhile, in another part of town, heiress Olivia Lawrence (Meg Tilly) has just returned home after graduating college to learn, her boorish/brainless stepfather, Tony Gateworth (John Glover) has wasted no time after the death of her mother, hooking up with Anne Briscoe (Dana Delany). Naturally, this does not make for happy times at the Lawrence summer home.

Tony is a lush and a womanizer, constantly goading and threatening Olivia. He will never abandon her late mother's fortune to remarry. Olivia's only friend - or so it would seem - is Mike McGill (Doug Savant), a boyhood sweetheart turned police officer. Mike is still stuck on Olivia. But she openly denies him. Nice guy. Just not for her. At a fashionable outdoor party, Olivia is introduced to Tim. Rough around the edges, Tim appeals to Olivia. They share a dance and develop an immediate connection. This escalates into unrequited lust before the night ends. Tim pursues Olivia, leaving Brooke bitter and vindictive. Eventually, Tim and Olivia marry. But the honeymoon is short-lived. In fact, Tim is in cahoots with Tony and Mike to murder Olivia and split her inheritance three ways. One problem: Tim has developed a backbone as well as a genuine affection for the doe-eyed Junior Miss whose bed he now shares.  Very reluctantly, Tim agrees to go along with the first murder attempt as concocted by Tony. The plan is for Tim to seduce Olivia, for Tony to burst in on them, supposedly drunk and with a gun, and in the ensuing struggle, for the gun to 'accidentally' go off and shoot Olivia. Instead, Tim wrestles the gun away from Tony and shoots him dead. Olivia tells Mike she shot her stepfather in self-defense after he tried to rape her. But Anne suspects murder and unknowingly telephones Mike to inform him he should be shadowing Tim. Instead, Mike murders Anne and makes it look like a suicide, all the while planning to incriminate Tim in both murders…unless he kills Olivia.

Plan B is for Tim to cut the gas line on Olivia's yacht, 'Masquerade' then, invite her to go sailing. Only Mike suspects Tim will not go through with this scenario either. So, he arrives on board the night before, cuts the line himself and plants a live rat inside the cabin to measure the output of gas. The next day, Olivia leaves the house to go sailing. Arriving later, Tim is told by one of the house servants his wife has already left for the Masquerade. Realizing what Mike has done, Tim frantically races to the marina.  In his single-minded act of heroism, he overlooks the fact Olivia has stopped to talk to friends, races aboard the Masquerade and is blown to bits. Olivia is taken to Mike's office by one of the first responding officers and sees a newspaper clipping of Mike and Tim chummy with Tony. She now realizes these three have been conspiring against her all along. Olivia confronts Mike, who stupidly tries to murder her in broad daylight. Instead, Olivia pushes Mike out a second-story window to his death. At Tim's burial, Olivia is told by her trusted Uncle Charles (Ira Wheeler) - who also happens to be managing the family estate - that her late husband came to him only days before his death to request he be taken out of Olivia's Will should anything happen to her. Olivia realizes Tim really did love her and is able to move on.

Masquerade is deceptively slick and stylish. As a thriller it is rather weak on motive. There is no logical reason why Tony should want Olivia dead. He is already living off her mother's money. If he is as greedy as we are led to believe, then why should he agree to a three-way split of the inheritance with Mike and Tim for their complicity in Olivia's murder? To marry Anne and see half of the inheritance go to her should the marriage not last? I don't think so! Mike's motives for wanting Olivia gone are even more muddled and anemic. There is some hint of homo-eroticism between Mike and Tim, particularly in a scene where Mike concocts murder plot #2 aboard the Masquerade in his underwear while taking Tim's face in his hands. But Mike has been infatuated with Olivia since they were children. Why he should suddenly want her dead, even if he is gay, makes very little sense. The chief problem with Masquerade as a thriller is the actors are tragically out of their element. Meg Tilly's blushing WASP is fatally neutral. There is no hint of goodness, sexual awakening or probing curiosity about her. In fact, she is the bluntest tool in the shed. Rob Lowe gets his kicks feeling up the exotic Cattrall. Yet, these sequences are gratuitous and barely have anything to do with the central plot. Lowe's Tim is a rather spineless toad. By the time he decides he loves his wife it is too late for him to do anything about it. He dies a virtuous man in Olivia's eyes despite the fact he told so many lies to string her along. In spite of its many incoherent and open-ended machinations along the way, Masquerade holds together. The Newport bluffs and beaches sparkle with an exotic and sun-filtered caress that is as enveloping as it proves inviting with its slightly austere posh veneer, counterbalanced by the seedy, sea-side digs and gritty hangouts where Tim’s class of beach bum plots their next big score. 

Rob Lowe cuts the right figure as the supposedly slick and breezy yachtsman with an angle to play. Lowe gets away on his pretty-boy persona but adds some genuinely ugly elements into the mix that make his sex scenes with both Tilly and Cattrall reek of a sexual tension. I have never entirely understood the quirky appeal of Meg Tilly, herein cast as the ultra-gullible good little Catholic girl who has an awful lot of growing up to do.  If love were an education, Tilly’s Olivia certainly earns her diploma with Tim. Kim Cattrall is strictly in this one as bimbo eye-candy. Works for me. Doug Savant has the most varied role, morphing from the basically clean cop who carries an unrequited torch for Tilly’s lost girl, then gradually morphs into the ultimate menace we cannot believe we didn’t see was lurking there all along.  I have a personal affinity for 80’s movies – the decade of my youth – and so, despite its deficiencies, I still consider Masquerade a worthwhile way to spend an evening at the show.  It is perhaps the quintessential 'puff piece' from this generation, teeming with sex, sun and sass – made in a decade rife with such well-intended, though rather poorly executed story lines. Is it worth a second look? Yes. Will it live on in your memory once you've seen it? Probably not.

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray of Masquerade will likely win a lot of fans. Chuck your old MGM/UA 'flipper' DVD. It’s officially a coaster for your glass. This 1080p image really pops. David Watkin’s photography is magnificent and this newly mastered Blu allows all of that sun-kissed sumptuousness to sparkle and shine. Colors are superbly rendered, with accurate flesh tones and exquisite blues and browns. The images here are startling pure. After decades of poorly contrasted, anemic standard def transfers on home video, Masquerade has finally been given its due. The 2.0 DTS audio is pretty solid as well, sporting some well-integrated SFX, along with John Barry’s underscore, while dialogue is always front and center.  We get an audio commentary from director, Bob Swaim, newly recorded, but who has some excellent recall revisiting a movie he made almost 33 years ago.  Swaim’s rose-colored reflections are perhaps a bit much – he describes Masquerade as his ‘perfect’ movie – but goes into great and fascinating detail about the way certain sequences were shot. His technological know-how is very impressive! Bottom line: Masquerade is a solidly crafted, but somewhat awkwardly amusing thriller that is very good, though not great.  For what it is, it gets remarkable mileage from its flaws, as well as its virtues. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

1