Extremities (film)

Last updated
Extremities
Extremitiesposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert M. Young
Written by William Mastrosimone
Based on Extremities
by William Mastrosimone
Produced by Burt Sugarman
Starring
CinematographyCurtis Clark
Edited byArthur Coburn
Music by J.A.C. Redford
Production
company
Distributed by Atlantic Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • August 22, 1986 (1986-08-22)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$13.4 million [1]

Extremities is a 1986 American drama film directed by Robert M. Young and written by William Mastrosimone, based on his 1982 off-Broadway play of the same name. The film stars Farrah Fawcett, Alfre Woodard, Diana Scarwid, and James Russo.

Contents

Both Fawcett and Russo had appeared in the stage play (Fawcett taking over a role originated by Susan Sarandon), and Fawcett received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her performance in the film.

Plot

While getting into her car one night, Marjorie is attacked at knifepoint by a masked assailant who forces her to drive to a remote location, where he tries to sexually assault her. She manages to flee but leaves her purse behind. While at the police station, she is told that without a positive identification of her attacker, it will be her word against his, and he will likely not face any criminal charges. In the following days, Marjorie lives in continued fear. Meanwhile, her attacker, revealed to be Joe, uses the information from her purse to find out where she lives and also steals mail from the home she shares with her roommates, Pat and Terry, to gain insight into their lives.

One morning, while Pat and Terry are away at work, Joe casually enters her home, claiming he is looking for someone who owes him money. Marjorie quickly realizes he is the man who attacked her and tries to escape, but Joe overpowers her. Throughout the day, Joe repeatedly physically and psychologically abuses her. As he attempts to rape her, Marjorie manages to subdue him by spraying wasp repellent into his eyes.

As she tries to flee once again, Joe taunts her by saying that since he did not actually rape her, the police will let him go, and he vows to come back and kill her. Marjorie binds him, confines him in the fireplace, and plans to murder him. When Pat and Terry return home, they try to convince Marjorie to think of the consequences of her decision and to go to the police. Joe tries to manipulate them into turning against Marjorie and believing that he is the victim; Terry immediately falls for his lies and tries to get Patricia (who doesn't believe Joe but is terrified that Marjorie will get them all arrested if she kills or maims him) to call the police.

As Marjorie tries to force Joe to confess to what he has done to her, he claims that he and Marjorie were lovers and that she attacked him when he came to end their relationship. Marjorie removes the knife he previously used on her from his jacket, as well as the mail he stole. She threatens to castrate him if he does not admit the truth. Defeated, Joe confesses that he intended to kill Marjorie, as well as Pat and Terry. He also confesses to raping and murdering three prior women. Marjorie tells Patrica to call the police, and tells an abjectly apologetic Terry not to stay with her while she watches over a broken, defeated Joe. She looks off with a relieved expression, knowing she has defeated this monster.

Cast

Reception

Extremities received mixed reviews from critics. The film holds a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on ten reviews. [2]

Award nomination

For her performance, Fawcett received a 1986 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a film drama.

The film was named one of the Worst Films of 1986 by Siskel and Ebert. [3]

Home media

Extremities was released to Blu-ray and DVD on May 19, 2015 as a Region 1 widescreen disc.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farrah Fawcett</span> American actress (1947–2009)

Farrah Leni Fawcett was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a starring role in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfre Woodard</span> American actress (born 1952)

Alfre Woodard is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and two Grammy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century". She is a board member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

<i>The Burning Bed</i> Book and movie inspired by a 1977 murder related to domestic abuse

The Burning Bed is both a 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg. The plot follows Hughes' trial for the murder of her husband, James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes, following her setting fire to the bed he was sleeping in at their Dansville, Michigan home on March 9, 1977, and thirteen years of physical domestic abuse at his hands.

<i>Cross Creek</i> (film) 1983 film by Martin Ritt

Cross Creek is a 1983 American biographical drama romance film starring Mary Steenburgen as The Yearling author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The film is directed by Martin Ritt and is based in part on Rawlings's 1942 memoir Cross Creek.

<i>Psycho III</i> 1986 film by Anthony Perkins

Psycho III is a 1986 American slasher film, and the third film in the Psycho franchise. It stars Anthony Perkins, who also directs the film, reprising the role of Norman Bates. It co-stars Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue. The original electronic music score is composed and performed by Carter Burwell in one of his earliest projects. Psycho III is unrelated to Robert Bloch's third Psycho novel, Psycho House, which was released in 1990.

<i>Small Sacrifices</i> 1989 television film directed by David Greene

Small Sacrifices is a 1989 American made-for-television crime drama film written by Joyce Eliason and based on the best-selling true crime book by Ann Rule of the same name. The film is about Diane Downs and the murder and attempted murder of her three children. It stars Farrah Fawcett, Ryan O'Neal, Gordon Clapp, John Shea, and Emily Perkins. The film premiered in two parts on ABC on November 12 and 14, 1989.

<i>The Generals Daughter</i> (film) 1999 film by Simon West

The General's Daughter is a 1999 American mystery thriller film directed by Simon West from a screenplay co-written by Christopher Bertolini and William Goldman, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson DeMille. It stars John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton, Clarence Williams III, and James Woods. The plot concerns the mysterious death of the daughter of a prominent Army general. The General's Daughter received negative reviews from critics, but was a box-office success, grossing $149.7 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $60 to $95 million.

<i>Windows</i> (film) 1980 film by Gordon Willis

Windows is a 1980 American psychological thriller film directed by Gordon Willis and starring Talia Shire, Joseph Cortese, and Elizabeth Ashley. It was the only film directed by Willis, who is better known as a cinematographer for such films as The Godfather series and several films by Woody Allen.

Extremities is an off-Broadway play by William Mastrosimone and directed by Robert Allan Ackerman. It opened at the Westside Theatre in New York on December 22, 1982 and ran for 325 performances.

<i>Jade</i> (film) 1995 American erotic thriller film by William Friedkin

Jade is a 1995 American erotic thriller film written by Joe Eszterhas, produced by Robert Evans, directed by William Friedkin, and starring David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna, and Michael Biehn. The original music score was composed by James Horner based on a song composed by Loreena McKennitt. The film was marketed with the tagline "Some fantasies go too far."

<i>Sunburn</i> (1979 film) 1979 film by Richard C. Sarafian

Sunburn is a 1979 British-American comedy detective film directed by Richard C. Sarafian and written by James Booth, John Daly and Stephen Oliver. It is based on the novel The Bind by Stanley Ellin. The film stars Farrah Fawcett, Charles Grodin, Art Carney, Joan Collins, William Daniels and John Hillerman. The film was released on August 10, 1979, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Myra Breckinridge</i> (film) 1970 film by Mike Sarne

Myra Breckinridge is a 1970 American comedy film based on Gore Vidal's 1968 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Michael Sarne, and featured Raquel Welch in the title role. It also starred John Huston as Buck Loner, Mae West as Leticia Van Allen, Farrah Fawcett, Rex Reed, Roger Herren, and Roger C. Carmel. Tom Selleck made his film debut in a small role as one of Leticia's "studs." Theadora Van Runkle was costume designer for the film, though Edith Head designed West's costumes.

<i>Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story</i> 1987 film by Charles Jarrott

Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story is a 1987 television biographical drama starring Farrah Fawcett. The film chronicles the life of Barbara Hutton, a wealthy but troubled American socialite. Released as both a television film and a miniseries, the film won a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film. Fawcett earned her fifth Golden Globe Award nomination, for Best Actress in a Miniseries of Television Film. Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story was based on C. David Heymann's Poor Little Rich Girl: The Life and Legend of Barbara Hutton.

James Vincent Russo is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in over 150 films in three decades.

<i>Law and Disorder</i> (1974 film) 1974 film by Ivan Passer

Law and Disorder is a 1974 American comedy-drama film directed by Ivan Passer, starring Carroll O'Connor, Ernest Borgnine, Ann Wedgeworth and Karen Black.

<i>Funny About Love</i> 1990 American romantic comedy film

Funny About Love is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring Gene Wilder in his first romantic lead. With a screenplay by Norman Steinberg and David Frankel, the film is based on the article "Convention of the Love Goddesses" in Esquire Magazine by Bob Greene.

<i>Scarlet Dawn</i> 1932 film

Scarlet Dawn is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic drama directed by William Dieterle and starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Nancy Carroll as refugees from the Russian Revolution. It is based on the novel Revolt by Mary C. McCall, Jr.

<i>Between Two Women</i> (1986 film) American TV series or program

Between Two Women is a 1986 Emmy Award-winning television film starring Farrah Fawcett and Colleen Dewhurst in an story about a relationship between a married woman and her mother-in-law. The film was directed and executive produced by Jon Avnet, and written by Avnet and Larry Grusin.

<i>The Ladies Club</i> 1986 American film

The Ladies Club is a 1986 American rape and revenge film directed by Janet Greek, and starring Karen Austin, Diana Scarwid, Christine Belford and Bruce Davison. It follows a Los Angeles policewoman who, after suffering a rape, bands together with other rape victims, forming a group that collectively begin hunting rapists. The script by Fran Lewis Ebeling and Paul Mason was based on Casey Bishop and Betty Black's novel, The Sisterhood.

<i>The Gray Man</i> (2022 film) 2022 American film by Anthony and Joe Russo

The Gray Man is a 2022 American action thriller film directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, from a screenplay the latter co-wrote with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Regé-Jean Page, Wagner Moura, Julia Butters, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard, and Billy Bob Thornton. Produced by the Russo brothers' company AGBO, it is the first film in a franchise based upon Greaney's Gray Man novels. The plot centers on CIA agent "Sierra Six", who is on the run from sociopathic ex-CIA agent and mercenary Lloyd Hansen (Evans) upon discovering corrupt secrets about his superior.

References

  1. "Extremities". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  2. "Extremities (1986)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  3. "Worst of 1986". Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.