I remember seeing previews for Never Talk to Strangers years ago. I thought it looked interesting, but I didn’t get to see it. A few months ago I saw part of it on television. I then tried to find the movie to rent so I could see all of it, but I had no luck. It was recently on television again, and this time I got to see the entire movie.

Dr. Sarah Taylor was a psychologist or psychiatrist. She was meeting with Max Cheski in a jail because a judge wanted her to evaluate Max. His lawyer was claiming he wasn’t fit to stand trial because he had a mental illness. Sarah was trying to determine if that was the case. Max claimed he had multiple personality disorder.

Sarah was friends with Cliff Raddison, a man who lived in her building. Cliff was interested in more than a friendship but Sarah wasn’t even though they spent the night together once a year before. They went out to eat occasionally, like they did that evening. The next day, Max’s lawyer tuned up to see Sarah. He claimed she wasn’t being fair to Max. That evening she stopped at a grocery store on the way home. A man, Tony Ramirez, started to talk to her. She wasn’t interested, but he was persistent and got her phone number.

When Sarah got home, she was surprised to see her father Henry there. They didn’t have a good relationship. She was trying to keep her distance. She always called him Henry instead of dad. Their visit didn’t go as Henry had hoped, but they did discuss possibly getting together for the holidays.

Sarah ended up going to Tony’s place. They drank wine and talked a lot. She told him about her last relationship and how it ended badly. They ended up having sex that night. They continued to see each other and sleep together. Their relationship was volatile at times. Sarah had mood swings at times. She started to receive threats and strange packages. Her cat was killed. She started to have strange nightmares. She started to have doubts about Tony.

CAST

Rebecca DeMornay - Dr. Sarah Taylor
Antonio Banderas - Tony Ramirez
Dennis Miller - Cliff Raddison
Len Cariou - Henry Taylor
Harry Dean Stanton - Max Cheski

Never Talk to Strangers was made in 1995. The movie was 86 minutes long and rated R. The movie is available on VHS and DVD. I have only seen it on television when it has been edited. I don’t know how much was edited out for television. I did notice a few times when it sounded like a word had been changed, but I don’t know what it was originally. This is not a movie that children should see.

Never Talk to Strangers was a thriller. There were some suspenseful moments, but the movie wasn’t extremely suspenseful overall. I didn’t think it was predictable. There were a few twists and surprises in the movie. I did think there was a different explanation for what was going on. Since I have seen all of the movie, I did see a few little hints here and there that indicated what would be going on. If I had seen the entire movie at first, I may not have been as surprised by some things. I may have also figured things out. What I suspected was going on when I first saw the movie did seem to be too obvious once I saw all of the movie. Other things were more obvious then as well. People who see the entire movie when the first watch it may not find it as suspenseful. Never Talk to Strangers did remind me a little of Basic Instinct. After that movie came out and was so successful, many other copycat movies were released, trying to cash in on the popularity of Basic Instinct. I think Never Talk to Strangers was one of those since it did share some elements with Basic Instinct and was made after it.

Sarah and Tony met and became involved in a sexual relationship during Never Talk to Strangers. They met in a grocery store and then two days later Sarah went to his place. They had sex that night. They did spend some time talking, but they were still basically strangers when they started having sex. They were enjoying the sex, but they were still struggling to get to know each other and to trust each other. They had some disagreements, sometimes caused from then not knowing each other that well. There were several sex scenes in the movie. Since I saw the edited version on television, some skin was shown, but there was no actual nudity. Some scenes were still steamy, especially for television. I’m not sure what was edited out of the sex scenes, but I’m thinking there was probably some nudity. I think that the sex scenes were probably more graphic as well. People who don’t like to watch movies with steamy sex scenes shouldn’t watch either version of this movie.

Some disturbing things happened at different times in Never Talk to Strangers. Some violent things happened, though the actual events and violence aren’t shown in the version I saw. Even with the editing for television, one or two things were still very disturbing and upsetting. Some viewers could be offended by those things. I don’t know if there was more violence in the R-rated version. It is possible that some things that weren’t show in the edited version did turn up in the R version. People who don’t like violence in movies may want to avoid this movie.

There were a few flashbacks in Never Talk to Strangers. They dealt with Sarah’s childhood. The flashbacks seemed to be pointless at first, but the reason for them became apparent near the end of the movie. There was a subplot going on related to something that happened when Sarah was a child and her current relationship with her father. It did seem like there was too much going on at times. Several things weren’t that developed.

The acting in Never Talk to Strangers was good, though it wasn’t award worthy. Rebecca DeMornay was good as Sarah. She was believable in the part. Some parts of the movie did remind me a little of The Right Temptation, another movie DeMornay was in that I saw earlier this year. Her characters weren’t that similar, but both did end up involved with men they really didn’t know. Antonio Banderas was good as Tony. He did add a bit of mystery to the part. He was easy to look at as well. His part as Tony was very different from his part in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Dennis Miller had a small role, but he did fine with it. He didn’t have that much screen time. Neither did anyone else in the movie.

CHARACTERS

Sarah Taylor - Doctor who had a troubled relationship with her father. Her last romantic relationship ended badly. She worked hard and was very responsible. She was a bit wild when she got involved with Tony when she hardly knew him.

Tony Ramirez - Many that became involved with Sarah. He was a bit mysterious and may have some secrets. He seemed very interested in Sarah. He was concerned when he found out what she was going though with the threats.

Cliff Raddison - Sarah’s upstairs neighbor. He wanted a more intimate relationship with Sarah, but that didn’t stop him from doing things with other women when he had the chance. He didn’t trust Tony.

Henry Taylor - Sarah’s father. He wanted to spend more time with Sarah, but she was reluctant. They have a strained relationship.

I did enjoy Never Talk to Strangers. I have seen better movies, but it is worth watching, especially for fans of Rebecca DeMornay or Antonio Banderas.

Related Reviews
The Right Temptation ~ Once Upon a Time in Mexico ~


Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age