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Cynthia and Joyce are childhood friends who get involved in the gruesome death of Joyce’s abusive husband in a moment of passion. The two conspire to cover up the crime, which leads to an intricate web of lies and a cycle of accusations and double-crossings. Alan Rudolph plays out this neo-noir drama within a working class milieu, replete with New Jersey accents and drab surrounds. Demi Moore and Glenne Headly are two hairdressers caught between the loyalties that their lifelong friendship demands and the terror of being accused of murder. Headly gives an absorbing performance as Joyce, a woman trapped in an impoverished, miserable state with an overbearing, insensitive, drunkard of a husband. Harvey Keitel plays a hard-boiled detective who unravels the mystery of James’ death by interrogating Cynthia, who reveals the past through a series of extensive flashbacks.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
317898
Languages
Arabic
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
English
English
Finnish
French
French
German
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Italian
Italian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Audience classification
M (15+)
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion picture trailers
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Questioning
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Detective and mystery films
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Thrillers
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Criminal investigation
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Murder
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Questioning
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Abused women
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Questioning
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Working class in motion pictures
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Abused women
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Marriage
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
DVD; Access Print (Section 1)