SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Michael_Elliott The Crush (1993) ** (out of 4) Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes) is a journalist who rents out a guest house and soon becomes friends with the owner's fourteen-year-old daughter Darian (Alicia Silverstone). It doesn't take long for Nick to realize that the young's girls ideas of a friendship are a lot more than what he is willing to give and soon her crush turns into something more dangerous.After the success of FATAL ATTRACTION we were getting all sorts of psycho thrillers. Films like SINGLE WHITE FEMALE and THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE were finding audiences so obviously another step was to make on dealing with a LOLITA type of character. THE CRUSH isn't a very original movie and for a thriller it contains no thrills so on that level it's really not that successful, which is too bad because there are a few good things sprinkled throughout the picture.The main reason to watch the movie are for the performances. The actors at least keep you glued into what's going on even though everything is pretty predictable unless you've never seen this type of film before. Elwes is very believable in his role as the writer who finds himself getting too much attention. You've got Silverstone in his screen debut doing a nice job as the troubled woman but there's no question that the screenplay really didn't give her too much to work with. She pulls off the sexy Lolita just fine but the mental issues of the character are never really explored. Jennifer Rubin is good as Elwes' love interest and Kurtwood Smith gets some good scenes as the girl's father.The biggest issue with this movie is that we've seen it countless times before and there's not a single original idea on display here. Even the sexual undertones are kept pretty minimum and instead we're basically seeing a watered down version of LOLITA. The fact that there's not any suspense and hell, there's not even a body count shows that this movie would have been better off on Lifetime instead of in theaters.

ehlenahunter After all these years, who doesn't know the premise of this movie? It's about a mentally unstable 14-year-old who becomes obsessed with a grown man renting a room on her parents property. She even goes so far as to try to ruin his career, life, and freedom when he doesn't return her advances.I saw this movie many years ago and I liked it. In fact, all these years later I can see where this movie set a precedence for other teenage "obsession" movies within this genre. But, oh yes, there is a BUT. After viewing it all these years later, I can safely say that Nick (Cary Elwes) did indeed lead Adrian on. As a grown man, he did some inappropriate things that put him in this position with Adrian. That's not to say that she still wouldn't have become mentally unhinged, but his relationship with her was far from amicable from the beginning. The constant leering at her in her bikini, following her on the balcony and flirting with her, taking her on moonlit drives at night, kissing her under the lighthouse, and sneaking into her parents house without making his presence known and peeping at her through her closet door. Granted, I know he was looking for some items he thought she stole, but still. None of that makes Nick come out of this clean, in my opinion.Did he deserve what he got? I think so! All besides the rape allegations. I saw that coming a mile away, and he should have too, which is why he should have known that all personal contact with a female minor should have been kept to a minimum.All in all, I did like this movie, and I did like Alicia Silverstone in it. It's just too bad she didn't get a chance to take her career further. What ever happened to her anyway?

akhila-52166 I didn't understand all the negative reviews of the Crush. People want to look at this like it should be realistic, yet it isn't intended to be. It is just your average teen horror fare. The film is about a girl named Darian (or Adrian, whichever you prefer) who meets a handsome older 30 year old Nick Elliot (Cary Elwes) and gets an unhealthy, creepy obsession with him. Darian (played by Alicia Silverstone) is a talented and attractive 14 year old girl who is vulnerable and awkward in her struggles to make friends. Eventually Darian becomes a huge burden and does major damage to Nick's livelihood, causing him to get arrested on suspicion of statutory rape and losing his job. Things work out in the end though serendipitously by some luck by chance.In my opinion, Alicia Silverstone did an excellent job in this movie. For only 16, she played the part well of an insecure teenager, balanced with the role of a young seductive siren trying to make Nick Elliot break the law. You could really see her talent as a young actress which rightfully sprung her into other roles like Clueless(1995), True Crime(1996) and Blast from the Past(1999). Cary Elwes was a lot less impressive with his role and his acting, but he did make a funny pairing with Alicia Silverstone. The movie has many comical and endearing parts to it. Some of it seems exaggerated and unbelievable, like the way he was arrested without proper evidence, the homeowners believing him to be a drug dealer, and him not bothering to call before showing up to their house! You will laugh at the absurdity of these situations most definitely. Overall, it's entertaining, not bad to check out, especially if you are a major Alicia Silverstone fan. It's not bad watching less serious stuff once in a while.

ccthemovieman-1 Word was that "you have to see this Alicia Silverstone; she's really hot." That was back in 1993, so I checked out the movie. This was Alicia's film debut and she got a lot of hype for this movie.I discovered, yeah, Silverstone has a pretty face, but that's about it. The movie was nothing special; not something you haven't seen before. Cary Elwes, not Silverstone, ruins the picture. Not literally him; the character he plays: "Nick." What a dork! Nick is an incredibly stupid guy who befriends the 14-year-old "Adrienne" (Silverstone), who is his neighbor. The girl, who then expects more from the guy and doesn't get it, vents her wrath on him. Nick is so annoying I didn't care what the stupid neighbor did to him. Both of the lead characters deserved each other.Whatever happened to Silverstone? I guess she never really made it to stardom. The last I remember her was playing "Batgirl" with George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger.