4 out of 5

Director: David Cronenberg

“The Fly” comes close to being Cronenberg’s first accessible genius stroke. What keeps it from being perfect are the very same things that worked amazingly in other films by the same director – while Cronenberg put the first english-language stamp on the body-horror genre, it requires a lacquer of weird and a slight emotional remove to connect with the disturbing elements of it all. On the flip-side, in films such as Dead Zone and his more recent career, Cronenberg pushes his emotions to the forefront and subverts the horror to the internal. It’s all very similar, but The Fly tries to straddle both and while the patience of its setup is incredibly frightening and relate-able, in its final moments it teeters toward a bit of cheese. So: Jeff Glodblum plays scientist Seth Brundle, on the verge of finishing his matter teleportation device. Geena Davis is the sexy reporter to whom he tells the story and agrees to follow him around on his journey to completion. A love interest blooms, and then jealousy, and then a drunken night where Brundle says ‘screw it’ and decides to transport himself. Alas, a fly got mixed in the batch and Brundle finds himself transforming into something not quite human… While the scientist / reporter relationship is a bit too quick and lovey, Cronenberg balances this in the script with real maturity in setting up the “bad guy,” Geena’s ex – John Getz. Because he isn’t a bad guy. He’s crass, but -mostly- respectful, and the humanity leant to this trio is really unrivaled in most films. And Brundle’s slow transformation, both effects and acting-wise, are stunning, and serve Cronenberg’s purpose of standing as a metaphor for aging or a lover contracting a disease. So we have a space bug at the end, and a shootout, and a king-kong like capture and chase. The creature is AWESOME and both portions of the movie are of interest, they just combine a little clumsily.