Intersection (1993)

Intersection is a 1993 film starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Lolita Davidovich and the ghost from Stir of Echoes and directed by Mark Rydell.

The biggest problem I have with Intersection is that Richard Gere's character is immensely unlikeable. It's impossible to sympathise with the plight of a protagonist who is such a colossal douchebag. Every problem he faces in the entire film (including the car accident) is entirely the result of his own selfishness. The whole film is built around the crucible of a car wreck that apparently claims his life, shown at the beginning, hence the title. But even this elicits no sympathy - he crashes into a stalled van because he is speeding like a loon on wet country roads with blind bends.

Anyway, Vincent (Gere) is a famous architect who was stuck in a loveless marriage with Sharon Stone (there's a problem for starters - I find it impossible to believe a woman as sexy as Stone is could be anything but ferociously enthusiastic in bed) until he met some ditzy redhead, Olivia (Lolita Davidovich) at an auction and suddenly discovered himself . . . or whatever. Because of their daughter (the chick from House and the ghost in Stir of Echoes when she was like, 12) and their architecture firm Gere and Stone are forced to still spend time together, and of course this causes issues with Gere and the ditzy redhead yadda yadda.

The scene towards the end outside the diner where Gere cries as he writes a letter ending his relationship with Olivia (a "find someone who doesn't have complications", type-thing) as rain beats down on his car is supposed to show how heartbreaking it all is for him, but for me it's just hilarious. Firstly because Gere is not a very solid actor, his tears seem horribly rehearsed, but more so because Vincent, the poor baby, is basically deciding which of the two women in his love triangle will have the privilege of his company. His wishy-washy excuses of wanting Olivia to find someone better are facetious at best - her needs are completely irrelevant. It's all about him.

And he's not half irritating. Throughout the film, Gere babbles these almost incomprehensible monologues that are supposed to show what a deep guy he is and how passionate he is about the women he loves, but he just comes off as an obnoxious nitwit.

The character we're supposed to root for, Olivia, is unfortunately not much better. She's one of those annoyingly eccentric characters, and her vibrant personality is supposed to be a counterpoint to Stone's cold detachment as the wife. Unfortunately she's just irritating. She bounces around like a squirrel on meth and her behaviour throughout the film is obnoxious - she shows up drunk to an event so she can create some drama because she knows Vincent's wife will be there, she gets horribly insecure about her relationship with him because he seems reluctant to build her a house so they can play happy couples, and she tries mercilessly and shamelessly to ingratiate herself to his daughter. She's a bundle of insecurity wrapped in a pretty package and has a fuse as short as a lima bean. She's the sort of chick you learn to avoid after she throws your possessions from a second-storey window and tries to brain you with a marble ashtray. But Gere hops after her like a lovestruck puppy.

The character I felt the most sympathy towards was actually Sharon Stone's. As I mentioned she is supposed to be the cold, detached wife that drove Vincent into the arms of another woman, but she is basically a decent person. Her only flaw seems to be that she married a dipshit. There's a ridiculous flashback scene in their bathroom where Vincent is coming onto her and she takes a phone call from a colleague. Gere slinks away pouting while she's on the phone and we're supposed to feel bad for him - oh, look, she denied him sex, what a twat! No wonder he hates her!

The film ends with Gere apparently breaking up with Olivia by writing her the letter, but then he has a sudden change of heart (he sees a little girl with red hair and gets all weepy) so he leaves a voicemail for Olivia (another babbled monologue) but then gets wiped out by a semi-trailer on his way to see her. Sharon Stone gets to the hospital first and finds the letter but decides not to give it to Olivia, thus both women leave thinking he had chosen her. The narcissism of this is absurd. Once again, it's not about Stone or Olivia. Their happiness is completely irrelevant - it's all about who was 'chosen' by Vincent.

And to make matters worse, we get some overwrought dream sequence as Vincent is dying where he sees his daughter and Olivia at a dreamy wedding banquet as some sort of symbol of the happiness he might have been headed towards. The startling thing about it, for me, is that Sharon Stone is not in it at all. A woman he supposedly loved, the mother of his daughter, and as he's dying he doesn't give her a single thought? She was probably better off without him.