Netflix

Film spectators are quiet vampires.--Jim Morrison, The Lords and The New Creatures

I was surprised by this film--usually I hate anything with Andie McDowell, largely because I don't find her attractive and I don't think she's a particularly good actress. But Spader and Gallagher pull this one out with great performances, and McDowell is ok.

Basically Graham (Spader) is a modern-day St. Origen. After an infatuation with an ideal girfriend goes too far, he becomes impotent and makes it his mission to document women's sexual predilections on videotape--he's able to jerk off to these videos, but can't get it up with a woman present in the flesh. Because of his impotence, he regards himself as a changed man, somehow more moral and less dishonest. He returns to his hometown to visit his school chum (Gallagher) who, despite his marriage, is sexually profligate. Andie McDowell plays the victim wife who has no sexual desire. McDowell is initially drawn to Spader until she finds out his secret--it's only after she discovers her husband's dalliance with her sister that she is healed, and Spader as well.

A challenging exploration of cinematic voyeurism and eroticism. Worth a visit.