Trade-Off

This was a 1995 Showtime original, not really different from any of those other 'Erotic thriller' direct to video flix you see starring the Shannon Tweeds of the world...Russell here plays a schemer, beds Adam Baldwin, plots to exchange murders-she to kill his wife, him to do her husband, the old 'Strangers on a Train' motif. Nothing esp. original here. Russell in bed is about the whole show-in her lace and garters especially, the cameral lingering for lonng space upon her body, as Adam Baldwin sets to 'work' for the night. These scenes are kinda steamy and done well. But the rest is right outta hackland time. You've seen it all before, a few random, clumsy plot twists, some shootings, fake deaths, etc.-not much is all that convincing or involving. I think that Russell is better than this, but her career seems to have taken a weird turn about the time she started doing things like Track 20, Whore and Physical Evidence in the late 80s-they either stank or tanked or both, and Hollywood wouldn't give her a fair shake afterwards. I give this **-but that's about it. An okay time filler, nothing much more.