by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Successful LA marketing analyst Michael Boll (James Spader) seemingly has it all-except a sense of self-confidence. Enigmatic drifter Alex (Rob Lowe) enters Michael's life and immediately begins to exert a negative influence. As Michael's self-esteem zooms (aided by generous dollops of sex and drugs) he allows himself to be dragooned into a life of crime by the demonic Alex. The "doppelganger" aspects of Bad Influence, and the film's many unexpected twists and turns, echo films of Alfred Hitchcock, especially Strangers on a Train. The film's boldest stroke is to cast the likeable Lowe as the bad guy (albeit a charming one) and the often villainous Spader as the malleable milquetoast.
characteristics
- Dangerous Friends
- Nail-biters
- Frame-up
- Friend
- Framed
- Rival
- Kill
- False-accusation
- Cat-and-mouse
- Corruption
- Deduction [reasoning]
- Deductive-reasoning
