Poison Ivy

In all honesty `Poison Ivy' is a terrible movie. The plot is predictable and campy, the script is poorly written and the mood of the film is manipulated and cheesy. That said; it is campy fun. `Wild Things' proved that camp can be done to perfection, and while this is no `Wild Things' it is certainly no `Showgirls'. What separates `Poison Ivy' from becoming the diluted mess that `Showgirls' was is the acting (although Gina Gershon was fantastic; seriously), which actually saves this film from being nothing more than a poorly conceived skin flick with `Lifetime' movie direction.

Ivy is a seductive teen who befriends Sylvie, an introverted girl whose mother is very sick and whose father is obviously suffering as much as his wife. Ivy moves in with this family and soon begins spinning her web and spreading her vine into the crevices of her new life. This involves seducing Sylvie's father Darryl and trying to take the place of her mother Georgie. As the film spirals to a close it runs off course in a series of far fetched sequences that expose Ivy for the person she is and brings a seemingly justified conclusion. If it weren't for the fact that Barrymore sells Ivy so well I'd be forced to say that this movie really has no value whatsoever.

But I can't honestly say that...

Drew Barrymore is a very fine actress, one that is often underrated and seen as mere eye-candy or Hollywood royalty (because of her family) instead of as a viable screen actress. Her performance here should squash that. I was having a conversation with a friend about the fact that a good actress will rise above a bad script and make it work. Barrymore does that flawlessly here. This script is undeniably bad (and the dialog is even worse) but Barrymore never shows it. She jumps into her role as if it was a role from the heavens and delivers a very strong and very convincing portrait of a very misunderstood girl. The ambiguities she brings to her character help make the film slightly better than it would have been otherwise (and I say `slightly' because even Barrymore can't save the film from absurdity).

The remaining actors all do well also. Sara Gilbert is decent here, but she pales when standing next to Barrymore. She has the disadvantage of being the most normal character in the film so she ends up becoming far less interesting. Ivy, Darryl and even Georgie all have their issues to contend with and thus become the focal point of our attention. Sylvie is merely trying to survive inside their world and thus she becomes rather dull. Tom Skerritt does a fine job shoveling his ridiculous dialog as does Cheryl Ladd, who really has a thankless role but never lets us know her disappointment.

Barrymore is the sole reason to watch this movie though. She gives a great performance that shows her acting talent full throttle. Looking the part and acting the part are two totally different things (as is made very clear when considering Elizabeth Berkley's horrendous performance in `Showgirls' versus Barrymore's stunning portrayal here). So, while I can't say that this is a good movie (because it's not) I have to admit that it has its moments, and it has Barrymore; and on a rainy, lazy afternoon that is more than enough for me.

I bought this DVD on a whim. I originally bought the sequel - with Alyssa Milano, cos I'm having serious withdrawal symptoms from Charmed - and since it seems to be stupid to have the sequel without the original, I bought the original.

Set in somewhere extremely rainy (it rains pretty much every other scene), Sylvie meets a girl who she calls Ivy, because of the tattoo transfer of a cross with ivy at the bottom. (Do we ever find out her real name? Cos all 'Ivy' says when Sylvie says that's her name, is: "It gives me a chance to start over." And she later gets the tattoo for real and he charged her $40??? I wish my tattoos were that cheap!) They quickly become best friends, and Ivy tries to fit into her friend's family pretty much by seducing the father and killing the mother. Some friend huh?

This should have been one of those movies that is all nude scene after nude scene after nude scene. With any other actress I think it probably would have been. But with Drew Barrymore at the helm, it became something more than that, almost touching at times. There are some weird moments, like why the parents never question why Ivy is always there; her mother lending Ivy her clothes and the father leering from afar.

Drew Barrymore, and the majorly big haired Sara Gilbert were the shining stars in this movie. Funnily enough they later starred in Riding In Cars With Boys together, where I didn't even realise it was the same girl in that as it was in Poison Ivy.

Also look out for Leonardo Di Caprio in this - a blink and you'll miss him scene. I blinked. I didn't know he was in it, until the credits rolled. I must have completely missed him.

Poison Ivy is a little gem of a movie, which will make you remember your best friends in high school and wonder if they could have ever turned out like Ivy did. Very strange movie, but well worth seeing if you can get it for cheap.

This erotic thriller from the late '90s can be attributed to staging Drew Barrymore's comeback from hellraising tabloid staple to a formidable actress that captivates audiences. Barrymore plays Ivy, a girl from the wrong side of that tracks who has Lolita-esque ways of getting what she wants. Sara Gilbert ("Roseanne") plays an awkward teen from a rich family who makes the mistake of befriending Ivy and falls victim to her machinations. Tom Skerritt and Cheryl Ladd play the rich parents who also get drawn into Ivy's web of deceit. The film is predictable, you know what's going to happen when Ivy displays her limber body in front of the rich dad, but Barrymore's performance provides the film's heat and demonstrates a turning point in Barrymore's career of her talent actually carrying some weight.

"I never knew anyone that looked that much like a slut," Sara Gilbert remarks about teen psycho Drew Barrymore, who literally swings into Gilbert's life on a rope across a significantly deep ravine. "Not that I'm a lesbian," Gilbert says. "Well, maybe I am. I told my mother I was and she said , `Fine, as long as you don't smoke.'" But everyone SMOKES in this swoony saga of the havoc a gal who's been denied hugs can wreak on one wealthy family - like Cheryl Ladd who, as Gilbert's dying mom, breathes fire when she demands, "Give me the Percodan!" or asks Barrymore, as she's trying on Ladd's oxygen mask, "Aren't you afraid of catching death?" Nope, it's Bad Acting that one might catch from this flick, which showcases Barrymore wishing, "I hope that when I die, I'll have had a sports car, a family, and a home. One day with the top down is better than a lifetime in a box."

Barrymore, being tattooed by some sleazeball, urges Gilbert to get one, too; Gilbert shrugs, "I'm not the type," causing Barrymore to rant, "Oh, but I am low class?" Gilbert responds, "You don't have any class," then demonstrates her class by suggesting that instead of borrowing Gilbert's money to pay for the tattoo, Barrymore should (in no uncertain terms) pay the old fashioned way and " - maybe he'll give you a deal." Barrymore avenges herself by arranging for Gilbert to be away when her father Tom Skerritt (fresh from his Wild Orchid 2: Two Shades of Blue triumph) throws a big soiree. Barrymore, looking luscious in Ladd's gown and jewels, helps out instead, asking Skerritt, "Care for anything?"

This leads to the first of the movie's many tasty highlights when, post-party, Barrymore hands Ladd champagne to wash down her painkillers, gives another glass to recovering alcoholic Skerritt, then - when Ladd, more or less unconscious, drops her glass - Barrymore grinds her high heel into the fragments. Skerritt, kneeling at her feet, kisses his way up, up, up her thigh, making Barrymore moan "Ooooh!" as she fingers Skerritt's toupee.

Gilbert, sensing that Barrymore is trouble, snaps, "My dog's a traitor!" and challenges Barrymore to a duel that will test the hound's loyalty. This hilarious "showdown" has the poor dog running back and forth while Barrymore and Gilbert act and act and act variations on "Here, Fred . . . c'mere, Fred."

We haven't even yet mentioned what happens later, like Skerritt making love to Barrymore atop his Mercedes in the rain; like Barrymore killing Ladd, then taking her ashes for a spin in a sports car with, yes, the top down; like Gilbert hallucinating when she catches Barrymore and Skerritt doing it; like Gilbert killing Barrymore; like Gilbert telling us, "I'll miss her." Deranged, demented, delightful.

This is a bad movie.

A really bad movie.

No, I mean it, a really, really bad movie. It's so horrendous you could punish your kids by making them sit through it.

All I can figure is someone went to Sara Gilbert and said, "Hey, how'd you like to make the leap from sit-com to film?" Then that same someone went and promised Tom Skerritt a lot of money to appear as a TMJ suffering sexually sicko father. And of course aging '70's starlet Cheryl Ladd did the film because she'd been out of the limelight a while, and then that leaves Drew Barrymore, who more or less played herself in those wilderness years of her career.

Poison Ivy stinks. If there's ever a choice between seeing it or scrubbing the bathroom tiles, take the more enjoyable option and scrub those tiles till they shine!