If a director wanted to make a movie using the popular conception that what men want is sex, all that would be needed would be an attractive actress and a little bit of a story line. But what if the director wants to turn the tables and make a movie out of the popular conception that what women want is romance? David Hare did and produced the gem Strapless. An ordinary women on vacation meets a handsome, cultivated man who turns out to be attentive, generous and is well versed in the fine art of the pursuit. He is wealthy, has titled friends, is loving, devoted and kind and is surrounded by an aura of mystery with just a hint of danger. In short, the average women realizes the answer to any woman's yearnings, the perfect romantic partner. After meticulously creating the fantasy, Hare shows us the outcome. Blair Brown projects a sense of wonderment that this could be happening to her while Bridget Fonda, early in her career, deftly provides the dose of reality needed to support the romanticism. Bruno Ganz is, in the words of his on-screen foster mother, that rare man that loves women. Carefully scripted and well acted throughout, Strapless is a keeper.
