Single White Female

Although it's not as distinctive as the movies that earned Barbet Schroeder his stellar American reputation, Single White Female is the most entertaining of the straight genre pieces the director filmed in the 1990s. With a wickedly literal twist on the familiar roommate-from-hell scenario, Don Roos' screenplay exploits suspense film conventions, but the gender of the players and the Alfred Hitchcock-style doubling of the plot add a welcome dose of psychological subtext to a genre that had of late become rather straightforward in Hollywood's hands. With her malleable looks and easily projected neediness, Jennifer Jason Leigh is downright creepy as Hedra, a role that gave the idiosyncratic actress cineplex exposure while still allowing her to expand her range. As Allison, Bridget Fonda isn't afraid to coast on the charm of her famous face and portray a character whose very substance is her facile nature and knack for coming out on top. The supporting characters, from Allison's boyfriend to the obligatory gay best friend, are fairly standard-issue, but this is a two-person psychodrama, not an ensemble picture. Bob Rafelson's Black Widow explored similar subject matter with a more brazenly lesbian undertone, but for a mainstream thriller, Single White Female is pretty darn edgy even while it remains solidly entertaining. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide