Fatal Affair

Fatal Affair is a badly written, poorly executed, but beautifully produced failure of a spectacle with aspirations to be the black upscale derivative of Fatal Attraction. 

Nia Long must’ve needed to pay hush money from a hidden account to be convinced to dash off to the beach and traipse around SanFran for a couple of days in order to foist this shameful story onto an unsuspecting roll of film. Movies like this give film a bad name. 

The most insulting part of this shim sham production is director and co-writer Stephen Sullivan’s insistence that the main characters make decision after decision that no black person in their right mind would make.

This is a black movie because it’s characters are BIPOC. However, watching this cast put through the paces of characters in a white teen horror flick exposes Sullivan as just another white director looking at black life through a white lense.

Stephen Bishop turns in a wooden performance as Long’s husband, encouraged by the script and unrecognized by the director. This brother’s eyes never smile with his face, but he rebounds well in scenes where anger and bewilderment are required. While he has often been cast as the wronged crazy guy, he unsuccessfully breaks type here; and Omar Epps grabs the baton with aplomb.

If you’re in a group, are a little buzzed, and have about 90 minutes to kill, give this a shot. You’ll enjoy the eye candy and the plot turns and character decisions will make you laugh out loud. Demanding anything more from it will turn it into a fatal affair.