The Leading Man (1996) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski) and Tuna

The Leading Man (1996) was directed by John Duigan, who directed what is arguably the most capturable movie of all time, Sirens. It was written by his wife, and is a backstage story of the London theater. Playwright Felix Webb (Lambert Wilson) has written a new play called The Hit Man, and manages to have his mistress, Thandie Newton, cast in the female lead opposite American actor Robin Grange (Jon Bon Jovi). His wife knows of his affair, and is increasingly vocal about it. Bon Jovi agrees to seduce the wife, as a favor, to give the playwright some breathing room.

Scoopy's thoughts: 

Me, too.

Cerebral story, pretty much like a stage play in its own right.

Why does Bon Jovi agree so quickly to seduce the wife? Is there more to it than what we see on the surface? There must be. The two men are engaged in some kind of a chess match with hidden strategies, and there is even a possible murder ala Hitchcock  (substituting a real gun for a stage prop), and still another prize that only Bon Jovi knows about. It appeared from he start that Bon Jovi had some kind of master plan all along, but his dramatic long-term goal seems pretty undramatic when finally revealed, and there isn't any payoff on the weapon switch or any of the erotic details. The entire film is kind of sly and coy, and remarkably lacking in sensuality, which represents an unusual change of direction, or perhaps I should say an unexpected indirection, from a director who has in the past directly celebrated the senses.

Bon Jovi was praised for his acting. He was competent, but was praised mostly because everybody expected him to suck. I thought he came off too whiny for such a take-charge manipulator, and he managed to produce only adequate results from a much better than adequate part, a juicy role that could have won an Oscar nomination for George Clooney or Hugh Grant or Colin Firth, for example.

The DVD is very dark and over-contrasted. Since Duigan has done so well with lighting in the past (Sirens is magnificent), I assume it's a poor DVD transfer from the print.