Consenting Adults (1992)

Editor's Note Richard and Priscilla Parker (Kevin Kline and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) are an ordinary suburban couple whose lives are invaded and rocked by their fast-living, secret-bearing, new neighbors, Eddy and Kay Otis (played by Kevin Spacey and Rebecca Miller) in this psychological thriller with intriguing plot twists. The film is rife with themes of paranoid mayhem, manipulation and deception. Spacey, in one of his first feature roles, gives a showy but charismatic performance as the evil neighbor, creating a smooth and charming surface appeal worthy of an Alfred Hitchcock villain.

	Kevin Spacey
	Rebecca Miller
	Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
	Kevin Kline
	Alan J. Pakula - Director

Kevin Kline plays Richard Parker, a commercial jingles-composer who leads a quiet suburban life with his wife Priscilla (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). The couple's lifestyle is rocked when they meet their new neighbors, financial advisor Eddy (Kevin Spacey) and beautiful Kay (Rebecca Miller). They spend time together, but Richard starts to suspect that all is not quite right when Eddy throws himself in front of a truck in order to collect the insurance settlement (which he gives to Richard to pay $25,000 in debts), and then proposes wife-swapping. Priscilla, who doesn't understand why Eddy and Richard have quarrelled, chastises Richard for his conservatism, and he soon ends up in Eddy's bedroom sleeping with Kay. Soon after, Richard finds himself embroiled in a murder plot that involves a double indemnity policy, a woman who appears to be dead but may still live, and a mysterious radio tape that could provide the clue to the whole mystery. Following the late 1980s trend in urban thrillers, CONSENTING ADULTS is reminiscent of such films as FATAL ATTRACTION and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE. USA Today
"...There is wicked fun to be had..." 10/16/1992 p.7D