Empire: The Julia Roberts Episode
In this episode (
9.20), Julia Roberts plays a femme fatale involved in a Viagra-induced murder. The episode pits the wealthy upper crust of Manhattan, including a Donald Trump-like figure, against the hard-scrabble cops and prosecutors determined to solve a murder. Roberts sets her heart on Detective Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) who soon finds himself in a perilous situation reminiscent of
Body Heat: he skirts the edges of a romantic involvement with a possible suspect. The chemistry between the two is palpable, so it's no wonder they became romantically involved in real life. Roberts' performance is among the more captivating the series has offered as she shifts from a fearful witness to a manipulative vamp. Her clothing is more transparent than she is: in several early scenes, you can see her underwear through her clothing, and later she strips down to a backless top in front of Curtis. Eventually, she betrays him, but not before he (arguably) commits a betrayal of his own.
The lead defense attorney in the episode is Edward Herrmann, probably best remembered as the master vampire in The Lost Boys. He's creepy in everything. It's worth noting that Dianne Wiest is the mother in Lost Boys, and of course replaced Steven Hill as the DA in L&O later on.
Oh, and: there's a bit of a continuity error in the scene between Benjamin and Julia at the motel room. The strap on her backless blouse keeps bouncing around -- sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can't.
Posted by adm at December 26, 2003 06:50 PM
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