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Amazon.com Sight unseen, it's tempting to dismiss Poison Ivy as a teen variation on your standard trashy erotic thriller, a genre born with such promise in Body Heat that has since been in steady devolution. But while Ivy is no Heat, it's better than virtually any of those movies that star someone named Shannon. Crisp directing is supported by a script that takes a smart look at dysfunctional family dynamics, but most of all, it's the performances. Much has been made of Drew Barrymore's perfect casting as the title character, but she also does a sneaky and subtle job of straddling the fence: is Ivy a desperate, lonely young woman, an evil barracuda, or both? Tom Skerritt matches her step for step, playing the fallen husband as both hopelessly vain boob and genuinely lost soul. Cheryl Ladd delivers a sharp, minimalist performance as his Beverly Hills trophy wife dying of emphysema--becoming the still-life center of everyone else's life. And Sara Gilbert does a fine job in a role that gives her all the heavy lifting, playing tortured straight man to this pathetic and compelling tree full of coconuts. This DVD features both R-rated and unrated versions. The latter shows a bit more skin, although it's still fairly tame compared to the average skin flick. It also leaves Ivy a bit more ambiguous, and is thus a bit more fun. --Geof Miller ... Read more Reviews (33)
Sara Gilbert & Drew Barrymore Shine...
I rented this movie mainly 'cos I was looking for some Drew Barrymore films. Somehow, I found this one in the drama section. I thought I'd like it, and I was right. This movie first starts off with Sylvie writing about 'Ivy' in her journal. Sylvie wishes they could be friends, because she doesn't have any friend. So Ivy & Sylvie become friends, and Ivy begins basically living with Sylvie and her family. Sylvie's mom is really sick, and throughout the entire movie, you can tell Ivy is trying to take the mother's place. Ivy obviously didn't have anyone that cared about her, and she wanted to be in a family really bad. If I tell you anymore, it'll ruin the movie. In my opinion, the movie was great, and Drew Barrymore and Sara Gilbert made it a very great film. They really know how to act! So if you're looking for a good movie or two to watch & you found this one somehow on this site, rent it or buy it, because it is a great movie if you like Drew or Sara. Hope you enjoy it. =)
great movie!
Poison Ivy is a great movie, starring a great cast of Drew Barrymore, Sara Gilbert, Tom Skerritt and Cheryl Ladd. It's about a young girl named Ivy who doesn't have much, who meets a friend who has 'everything'. Ivy does her best to fit in with the family... END
Little miss naughty. 15th april 2004.
She hasn't got hardly any friends, until she starts chating up a girl the similar age as her, who also hasn't got many friends either. Her best friend as a perfect mother and father until she decides to fall in love with the girls father and starts kissing him. Her mother is ill, she as wanted to kill herself many of times. She is a bad person but the girl dosent realise that until later on when she finds her with her dad, and also pushes her mother out of window. SHE WAS THE PERFECT FRIEND.
Purely vampy
...Drew Barrymore and Sara Gilbert heat up the screen in this vampy homoerotic thriller. Drew Barrymore plays the Lolita-esque Ivy, who will apparently stop at nothing to .... well, it's not that clear what Ivy wants exactly, only that she's willing to seduce quite a few people to get it. The plot is not this film's best asset, but who cares? Not most fans of this film, who are perfectly content to watch the talented and sexy Drew Barrymore in this most unlikely come-back role.
a word of advice
watch poison ivy 1 & 2 but skip the new seduction. trust me, you'll thank me later. of all the erotic thrillers in the nineties, poison ivy comes off clean as one of the most original & well-made of the entire genre. surely there have been many imitiations of poison ivy but none hold up quite so well after nearly 12 years unfortunately as the one which started thegreat trend. who is ivy? is she a very lonely girl whose never had much of a life & simply desires the friendship of another rebellious young girl? or is she a greedy, evil snake in the grass? perhaps both? i'll have to admit it's hard to know exactly how to feel when you first watch this film & even harder to completely hate the character of ivy despite the evil things she does. drew barrymore gives a slick, seductive performance which is only rivaled by her companion coop(played by sara gilbert) & matched through the brilliant performance of verteran actor tom skerrit(who plays coops father). poison ivy, is suspenseful, sad, & often sensual although never really reaches the level of a softcore film like the rating might suggest. there are 2-3 implied sex scenes which may be considered objectionable for viewers under the age of 16. parents may wish to either view this film with their younger children or to screen it first before allowing for mixed family viewing. if you've seen poison ivy & loved it, go ahead & try the sequel which has alyssa milano. the 2nd poison ivy is quite good too although the first one is still the classic. go out & get your copy of poison ivy today on dvd & vote for me!! forget the tnt televsion edit & pick up the new line cinema dvd.
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