Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

ags123 This is an engrossing film, one that merits repeated viewings. It's a cat and mouse game between two women, one a sociopathic serial killer and the other a justice department employee determined to track her down. There's great location photography in Washington, DC, New York, Denver, Seattle and, ultimately, Hawaii. Bob Rafelson's direction is taut. He moves things along quickly never letting a scene go on too long. Best of all are the two leading ladies. Debra Winger turns in a winning, self-deprecating performance few of her contemporaries could match. Theresa Russell isn't really a great actress, but her uncertainty contrasts well with her character's cold calculating determination. Both women look great, which adds to the film's already fine visual appeal. The plot is full of holes, yet it's so entertaining they're easily overlooked. And considering that the film is already thirty years old, it still seems current, despite the land line phones, clunky computers and big shoulder pads.

Spikeopath Black Widow is directed by Bob Rafelson and written by Ronald Bass. It stars Debra Winger and Theresa Russell. Music is by Michael Small and cinematography by Conrad L. Hall.Two women. Catherine marries men for their money, then murders them. The other, Alexandra Barnes is on her tail, getting in close to hopefully expose her crimes...Rafelson's neo-noir homages the film noir femme fatales of the 40s and 50s with a high degree of success. There's much potency in the screenplay that puts it firmly in the noir universe. Flip flopping the misogyny angles of yesteryear, picture pitches the ultimate femme fatale destroyer of men into a cat and mouse scenario with a sexually repressed opponent - or is she a jealous but secret admirer? The transformation of Winger's dowdy Justice Department Agent into a blossoming lady at Catherine Black Widow's (Russell super sexy and sensuous) side brings in the doppelgänger effect, a good old noir staple. The sexual tension is a constant, particularly when Paul Nuytten (Sami Frey) is brought into proceedings, something which shifts the piece still further into noirville.There's also other characters straight out of film noir. Be it Alexandra's boss (the always reliable Terry O'Quinn), who's harbouring carnal desires for Alex, or sleazy Private Investigator H. Shin (James Hong) who has a needle habit, it's clear that Rafelson and Bass know their noir. Unfortunately most of the play is in daylight, meaning missed opportunities for some psychological shadow play is passed up. Though it should be noted that Hall's photography is slick and tonally in tune, especially when lighting scenes involving Russell as prime focus. It all builds to a splendid finale, the makers pulling us both ways as to where it will lead. Sure, some of the plot devices are weak, but in the main this is sexy, intriguing and tricky in narrative, whilst tech credits stay at the higher end of the scale. 7/10

brchthethird This is a rather ordinary mystery/potboiler in which a game of cat-and-mouse is played between two women. I said it's ordinary because there really isn't much to distinguish it from other similar movies except that the two leads are women. The acting is serviceable, and no one really gives a breakout performance. The film's greatest weakness is probably in the writing. The film starts out strong, but it's as if the writers ran out of ideas when it came to the final act. The pacing slows down a lot (and wasn't even perfect to begin with, given all of the time lapses) and the story begins to focus on a love triangle that really isn't compelling at all. Some lesbian/homoerotic tension is hinted at and, as if to give the perverts in the audience something to guffaw at, culminates in one of the quickest and most awkward kisses I've ever seen. They also don't treat the women in the film very kindly either, particularly the two leads. The only type of independent women they have are either manipulative bitches or hard-working women without much time for romantic endeavors, and both of them are presented as sex objects throughout the entire running time. Debra Winger's character is of the second type and is constantly subjected to crude comments and unwanted sexual advances, while Theresa Russell is the other type, who sees marriage as the pinnacle of her life even if she uses it to her own nefarious purpose. There are some glorified cameos by Dennis Hopper and Nicol Williamson which are entertaining. It's too bad that they weren't in the film more, but they do elevate the material somewhat in their limited screen time. Overall, I'd say this is about two thirds of a decent movie, despite the implausibility of it all.

ernesti I had seen Body Heat from 1981 with the similar femme fatale theme and that film just comes to my mind after seeing Black Widow on TV tonight.Actually Black widow tries to copy some elements from the earlier film with very little success. I can give this film 1 point for high production values, 1 point for the score and 1 for good sets. That's just about it and it's such a shame that if this film had had a really good intelligent script, the outcome could have been much better.The film's actually really dumb and there's plenty of things that make very little sense. The pacing is actually so dull that nothing seems to happen in it for the first hour. It's just tough to watch when everything is so obvious from the very beginning to the very end. It's like watching a daytime soap opera that never ends.The main character's quite tame and uninteresting just like everything else in this film. Plot twists in the end of the film are just a little too late to save the film. It appears that there was very little substance but it still had to be made to last 102 minutes.Save yourself from an obvious disappointment and watch The Body Heat instead. It's got very similar story and it's the original.