Nine 1/2 Weeks

R

Released Feb 21, 1986

1h 53m

Romance

Drama

List

60%

25 Reviews

Tomatometer

56%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Two strangers, Wall Street trader John (Mickey Rourke) and art gallery assistant Elizabeth (Kim Basinger), become involved in a new relationship. What begins as a courtship, though, becomes extremely sexual, as John begins to push for more daring and kinky scenarios, including striptease and bondage. Although their passion is strong, Elizabeth starts to realize that John is not sharing any part of his life besides sex. She must make a decision about what she wants from their relationship.

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Critics Consensus

9 1/2 Weeks' famously steamy sex scenes titillate though the drama unfolding between the beddings is relatively standard for the genre.

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Audience Member

Possibly one of the sexiest films of the 80s. You could definitely call this the pre-Fifty Shades of Grey. It's also based on the true story of Elizabeth McNeill. Liz and John are two strangers that meet and have a chance encounter with one another. He's a Wall Street trader and she's at an art gallery. Throughout their continual meetings they dive into a passionate, steamy physical relationship. But John starts engaging in more kinky scenarios that are foreign to her. It goes to the point where she acts as a submissive. Is the physical act of love all that makes up their connection? Maybe it's possible Liz wants something more. The movie truly takes advantage of its kinky nature going from using icicles to food to self satisfaction. Both of these people explore hidden passions. But there is a point where if one of them has to say no it would end faster. Perhaps John may end up having feelings he never knew, the turn ons he suggests may only be a facade. The ending is definitely downtrodden once the actual drama sets in. You have to give both Rourke and Basinger kudos for truly committing both physically and emotionally to their parts. Despite the massive amount of changes from McNeills autobiography this is still a very steamy experience showing how long the erotic nature can last before completely crumbling. Director Adrienne Lynne gets the excitement across that's for sure and even if much of his original vision is lost on the cutting room floor the movie still illustrates control and power. It doesn't have to be just one party in the relationship to be in charge all the time, either one of them can end it fast or later. Makes a good impression and this will do the trick for many couples out there who are in the mood for something exotic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/22/24

Full Review

Jenny D

I loved it! The two leads are both gorgeous creatures to behold........and the sexy magnetism of Mickey Rourke cannot be denied. WOW........I don't find this film dated at all, especially with some of the tasteless smut around these days.......this was subtle and great. Even the music stands the test of time, and still sounds good. I'm keen to read the book and see what the film missed, as I have heard Mickey Rourke talk in interviews about wanting to go further in the movie........and that Kim Basinger has 14 hours of unseen film that has never been released to the public. Now THAT would be worth seeing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/15/23

Full Review

Steve D

Flat and aimless. Laughable.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/05/23

Full Review

David H

This is one of the most erotic movies ever made. Kim Basinger is incredibly beautiful. One wonders what qualifies one to be a movie critic. Maybe a sexual dysfunction of some kind?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/26/23

Full Review

Moneer A

Great movie .. worth to watch it ..

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Taylor L

Mickey Rourke is a human chameleon at the rate his face and body change between movie roles. Weird to think the man that looks like he's on the road to recovery after sticking his face in a spinning lawnmower blade used to be a heartthrob. Dude looks like a fluffy-haired Bruce Willis here. So Nine 1/2 Weeks is marked as an 'erotic romance drama' but it's more of a dark psychosexual thriller, as Kim Basinger's Elizabeth falls into a passionate relationship with Rourke's John, a powerful and mysterious stockbroker; what starts as refreshing intensity gradually becomes more and more of a twisted fantasy as John pushes for increasingly degrading and public sexual acts. It's got this very strange juxtaposition between these recurring romantic comedy scenes filled with flirting and misadventures, and much more explicit exhibitionism; either there are problems with tone, or the deliberately confusing design, or the structure parallels Elizabeth's own polarized, consistently fluctuating understanding of their relationship. If that's the case (and I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt), Nine 1/2 Weeks seems like an oddly modern take on the fine line between deviancy and intensity, instead of a simple off-kilter fantasy, an odd precursor to the 50 Shades of Grey franchise. I don't buy Rourke in the main role, at least not initially. There's supposed to be a whirlwind, innocent start to the film, in order to contrast against the degradation to follow. But he opens up with buying her a fancy scarf at a flea market and follows that up with, "Do you like music?" There's no spark, no initial intimacy to make the dark places the script goes to feel earned, but the script does build it up later with this sort of chemical dependency that each of them has for one another, but in a self-destructive feedback-loop sort of way. Coming at it from that perspective rather than as a bit of failed escapism, Nine 1/2 Weeks seems ahead of its time even if it could be criticized for shortcomings in narrative development and character depth. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

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Adrian Lyne

Director

Mickey Rourke

John

Kim Basinger

Elizabeth

Margaret Whitton

Molly

David Margulies

Harvey

Christine Baranski

Thea

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Julie Salamon

Wall Street Journal

The movie that remains is lovely to look at, but spiritless, a listless coquette. It brings to mind the ads for Calvin Klein’s perfume, Obsession.

Aug 11, 2022

Full Review

Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 2/5

Apr 16, 2003

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

A lot of the success of 9 1/2 Weeks is because Rourke and Basinger make the characters and their relationship convincing. Rourke's

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

‘…due a re-appraisal; it’s actually got a fierce female perspective and dares to look at how to resist controlling men in a fairly unflinching way…'

Rated: 3/5

Jan 3, 2023

Full Review

Susan Jhirad

Sojourner

The ultimate weakness of the film is the contemptibility of its two leads.

Aug 22, 2019

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

[VIDEO ESSAY] With its tantalizing title suggesting an ideal timeline for a fetishized affair, Adrian Lyne's beautifully stylized adaptation of Elizabeth McNeill's novel is a milestone of mainstream erotic cinema.

Rated: A

May 1, 2012

Full Review

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Synopsis

Two strangers, Wall Street trader John (Mickey Rourke) and art gallery assistant Elizabeth (Kim Basinger), become involved in a new relationship. What begins as a courtship, though, becomes extremely sexual, as John begins to push for more daring and kinky scenarios, including striptease and bondage. Although their passion is strong, Elizabeth starts to realize that John is not sharing any part of his life besides sex. She must make a decision about what she wants from their relationship.

Director: Adrian Lyne
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 1986, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 13, 2008
Runtime: 1h 53m
Sound Mix: Surround

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