Mara McAndrew's marriage is falling apart. Her husband, Donnie, a Vietnam veteran, suffers troubling flashbacks about the war, leaving him unresponsive to her needs. Mara wants out, but she also wants Donnie's money. When Mara meets a mysterious stranger, Reed, at a local bar, she believes she has found the right person to help her out of her predicament. But Mara worries that Donnie's sister, Jill, is on to her.
Acting
Karen Allen commits to this bonkers material like it's Shakespeare.
Score
Saxophone-heavy soundtrack that screams 1988 erotic thriller.
Writing
Twists so shameless they loop back around to impressive.
Director
Gilbert Cates
Karen Allen
Mara McAndrew
Keith Carradine
Reed
Jeff Fahey
Donnie McAndrew
Bernie Casey
Clinton James
Dean Paul Martin
Jake
Virginia Capers
Maxine
Philip Sterling
Dr. Creason
Dinah Manoff
Jill
Frances Flanagan
Claire
Antony Holland
Judge Hardin
Dwight Koss
Deputy 'Buzz'
Wendy Van Riesen
Alice
Eric Schneider
Dr. Cooper
Enid Saunders
Aunt Elizabeth
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Gilbert Cates was better known for producing the Academy Awards telecast eleven times; this was his dark little secret.
Backfire arrived at the tail end of the psychosexual thriller boom that Fatal Attraction kicked into overdrive—by 1988, the formula was getting desperate enough to make Vietnam vets sexy again.
CA
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