Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Jodie Foster won two Best Actress Oscars for roles in which she was stalked or assaulted: The Accused (1988) and Silence of the Lambs (1991). In Five Corners, she warms up for those future performances.

The film takes place in Bronx, New York, in the year 1964. The neighborhood bad boy is Heinz (John Turturro), a psychopath who has just been released from prison. He was sent up the river for stalking Foster, and is now after her again.

Coming to Foster's belated rescue is her limping, obsessive boyfriend (Todd Graff) and Tim Robbins. Robbins was the man who had stopped Turturro the last time, but has since become a pacifist. Of course, this setup inevitably leads to a scene in which Robbins must use force.

A secondary and nearly unrelated storyline has two dimwitted teenage girls (Elizabeth Berridge, Cathryn de Prume) being given away by their boyfriend. Their new owners are a pair of young delinquent idlers. The boyfriend later feels guilty, and begins a search for his lost squeeze. In contrast to the rest of the film, these scenes are mostly played for laughs.

I wasn't surprised to see that the user ratings for the film at imdb.com were higher for men than for women. Along with the two airheads, Foster's character is also passive. She spends the latter part of the film being carried limply about New York by Turturro, as if she is Fay Wray and he is King Kong. She also agrees to meet Heinz alone at midnight, against all common sense.

Five Corners was the first screenplay for John Patrick Shanley. His second film Moonstruck was much more successful, both with critics and at the box office. It was also less quirky, which may be why I prefer Five Corners. Shanley's best work would come a few years later, with the disaster film Alive!.

Foster won Best Female Lead at the 1989 Independent Spirit Awards. Turturro and Shanley were also nominated, for Best Supporting Male and Best Screenplay. Turturro is surprisingly convincing as the troubled Heinz, whose unpredictable behavior makes for compelling drama. Graff does well as Foster's lovesick boyfriend, but Robbins is flat as her protector.

One of the executive producers is noted Beatle George Harrison. The film opens and ends with The Beatles' "In My Life". The song might not really be appropriate, but is always nice to hear. (64/100)


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older