The Crush - Nick Eliot the Idiot is a disgrace...
Trigger Warning:
This blog contains content that may be disturbing and upsetting
to some readers such as topics of stalking, adult
communications with minors that some may deem inappropriate and sexual assault.
Yes, and this movie as a whole is a fucking problem.
Let's start with Nick Eliot. Nick is a writer who is looking for a new place to live in Washington state for a job at Pique, a magazine. He has gone from place to place looking at subpar apartments, etc.
He's single and 28 years old.
He happens upon a tree lined street, driving, not looking at the road but trying to read a map which is terrible and ridiculous in itself. What the hell?! He hits the brakes immediately when Adrian Forrester, a 14 year old teenager, rollerblades onto the street.
Btw, this is one of the most cinematic scenes I've seen… the introduction to Adrian. How her face looked when Nick pressed the brakes on the car and the staggering/slightly jittery/full stop angle was really dope. The best introduction to a character I've seen, thus far.
Anyways, Nick is watching her intently, but I guess the shocked look on his face could be from nearly hitting the girl. However… he looked like he instantly fell in love. Sorry, but he did.
Fast forward to when he decides to take the apartment. (I will get back to her parents later) Nick is fixing plumbing under the sink and Adrian's only friend, Cheyenne, walks in at the behest of Adrian. Nick asks if she is a friend or foe without looking up and Cheyenne says, "That depends" or something like that.
Nick asks her name and she tells him. This fool asks if her parents are Injun. I'm sorry if anyone takes offense with what I say here but… that is racist. An absolutely, insulting and offensive slur to describe Native Americans (yes, there is a whole history to that friggin' word) and this fool Nick, instead of asking Cheyenne if she was Native American or of Native American descent, uses a foul ass word like that… and HE'S A JOURNALIST!
So far, points off for not keeping his eyes on the road, looking at Adrian with "Whoa, she's hot!" eyes, and insulting an entire race of people. All within less than 10 minutes of the movie.
NEXT!
Cheyenne reports back to Adrian, who was waiting for a "report" from her friend to see what this new tenant was like.
Cheyenne tells her that Nick's "Okay and kinda cool" but then delivers the "coup de Grace" by saying… "Oooolllddd".
"Old" was the magic word. The trigger. I know it's not that simple but what if Cheyenne said he was young? Btw, Cheyenne had to have known about Adrian's issues and interests in older men because later in the movie she lets Nick know about another guy Adrian had a crush on that was significantly older than her.
Question: Did Cheyenne even inform Adrian's parents? How about telling her OWN parents? It was clear Cheyenne was not that close to Adrian. Even Adrian made that clear when speaking to Nick by the lighthouse, the "make-out spot" - ick.
Anyways, this fool Nick had the audacity to snap his fingers at Amy, a photographer co-worker of his at Pique who was just walking by. I mean he was just trying to get her attention but… ugh. Sorry, just needed to bring this up adding to his character... flaw.
The Infamous Cigar scene…
Nope, not the Monica Lewinsky situation. If you're my age or old enough to remember, you know what I'm talking about. Do your internet engine searching.
Nick is at home writing one night, smoking a cigar. He notices the pool outside is vacant. Adrian comes by wearing a nightgown (inappropriate). Doesn't matter the length. It's a nightgown, at night. All very suggestive.
Where were her fucking parents?! Oh! That's right, they're always working; one is always "in court" and the other one is always spending time at "airports". Adrian needed a nanny an alarm system. I will speak more about this later.
Nick starts picking her brain about what he's writing about and Adrian decides she wants to play "sexy seductress" by sitting by Nick in another chair, sitting backwards on it, snagging his cigar and puffing on it.
This nasty fucker Nick stares at her, asks her, "Are you sure you're really 14?"
Once he comes to his senses he then says, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
Like, bro. Your first mistake already was allowing her to come into your apartment at all at that time of night without her parents or a parent being there - in her nightgown, no less! This does not come off as his first time encountering young teenage girls having a crush on him because he seemed to embrace this behavior WAY too fast and was very comfortable with her too quickly for my liking.
He may have taken that place because of her and her only, not because it looked like a "struggling writer's paradise". Especially when you heard how Adrian's mother described the place and what he had to do with it. Nasty man.
FINISHED JOGGING/MUST HEAD TO WORK SCENE…
More ugh…
Nick finishes jogging, I assume the next day or couple of days later. He takes a shower and Adrian just waltzes herself into his apartment and Nick is "annoyed". She says she knocked (yeah right) and even if she did, you hear no one answer, you simply leave. You don't just break into someone's place who is paying for it. But, hey, Adrian is an entitled, spoiled, loner brat who thinks she's smarter than anyone so...
Fast forward and Adrian questions Nick about a picture of him and his grandfather. She wants the fucking picture (again, entitled and obsessive). He says no it's the only one he has. Mind you, dude is talking to her while he is still in the bathroom shaving and naked. Plenty of time to tell this meddling stalker to get the hell out, I'm a grown man who needs to get dressed for work. No, foolio doesn't do that, yet.
Adrian asked Nick if he always writes on a computer and he said yes. She makes some remark I guess she thinks makes her sound like a grown-up capable of making grown-up jokes and Nick fake laughs and tells her to beat it and half-ass closes the bathroom door (I still think to this day on purpose). Adrian sits down on a chair outside the bathroom door, turns her head and sees the nasty naked butt cheeks of Nick and smiles to herself.
What a disgusting POS. First off, teens are impressionable, they will push the envelope when it comes to adults. However, this dipshit Nick didn't even take the time to turn around, make sure Adrian made it to the front fucking door to leave, lock the door, then go back to the bathroom to finish up what he started. AT LEAST THAT! Instead, he decided it was best to tease her or, if you think he didn’t know better and didn't think he was thinking at all, just solely thought of getting ready for work. However, I've pointed out too much that points to the former.
Moving on. Adrian gets him some sunglasses and he's smiling, grateful and thanking her. Fine. Foolio should be taking the hint that this is bad and a HUGE slippery slope.
It gets MUCH worse.
Later that night, Adrian's parents have a party at their home. Nick was invited and Adrian, earlier in the day, begged his funky ass to come and he said he would think about it. Nick that night was at home chillin' and heard the party commotion, looked outside his window and saw all the old dinosaurs going into the house. He decides to go. Why not?
He went because Adrian was there. Pure and simple. Sicko.
He gets there looking out of place, definitely not within the age bracket of these people. He runs into Adrian's mom and finally meets the father. Obviously the father is laid back and… eagled eye/observant… more so than his lawyer or judge employed wife (I will explain later why I say this). Interestingly the father mentions if a woman got her breasts done. Why would it be any of his business? Like father, like daughter. Nosy. I guess the mother as well.
Anyways, Nick winds his way through the crowd and really starts noticing the piano playing and as if the music was summoning him to her, he finds his way to Adrian, faux playing the piano expertly and he is in awe of her.
She looks stunning.
Adrian gets up and walks away once she finishes the song. Once again, Adrian moves in a way that makes Nick follow her. She shakes the hand of an older, creepy gentleman that also watched her (nasty old pervs) as she walked outside the backdoor.
Once outside and knowing this fool was following her, she turned around in dramatic fashion saying, "I knew you would come!"
This absolutely fucking, distasteful ass man said to her, "If you were 10 years older…"
Adrian said, "You would what?"
Good fucking question, YOU P.O.S. PREDATOR!!!!!!!
Those words should've never left your maggot filled mouth. Couldn't help it because you're a predator.
Well, Adrian asked Nick how his boss liked the article and Nick is not happy about the fact that a 14 year old wrote it. He scolds her lightly. Before this, Adrian was bragging, pretty much pointing out what Nick had trouble with writing the article. So when Nick seems upset with her, she uses this to manipulate him, telling him she only wanted him to like her, which he said he did, and she pounces, saying she wanted to go for a ride in his car.
This dumb ass, irresponsible man decides to take her to… well, "the place she wanted to show him" which turned out to be a "make-out" haven for teenagers.
This man, who should've said no - HELL NO - should've been like, "Look, unless your parents are with us, I'm not taking you anywhere."
But this nasty, horny man does just that! Take a 14 year old teenager in his vehicle without asking her parents who were in the house entertaining their guests, "Hey, can I take your daughter for a ride in my drop top convertible in the dead of night for a ride?"
HELL NO!
And he knew this. That's why he left with Adrian without a thought, even when he was pretending to be concern. Disgusting.
They arrive to this lighthouse - the "make-out" place and Adrian apologizes to Nick for writing the article. That fool, instead of telling her "apology accepted", tells her essentially it's okay. Adrian, because she at least understands human appeasement, gives this "Woe is me" story about herself that, at first you may think isn't genuine but it's one of the only times she let her guard down. I will get back to that later.
People think "I'm some kind of freak or something. Like I'm crazy". Well… yeah! You're obsessive, demanding and there are other things about you that rub people the wrong way. You also think you're above others, intellectually.
The crazy part is interesting. I wish there was more context to this, like seeing more in the movie, more characters explain Adrian's background or something. We hear Cheyenne speak about Adrian's past.
Anyways, after Adrian easily makes this fool Nick feel sorry for her for not having any friends, (side note: I do feel bad Adrian. She's manipulative but she was still a teenager who's developing. I will delve into this later) Nick puts his finger under Adrian's chin and tells her he can be her friend.
Buddy, you already went too far now and it's barely 22 minutes into the film. You've been alone with her AT NIGHT twice, once in her nightgown and a few times alone. Although she is being manipulative, she is also being manipulated… by you. You're being too friendly when you should keep your distance, especially when she is giving CLEAR signs she has a crush on you and you know this.
Now back to this unfortunate scene. As soon as she lifted his hand to gently kiss it, he, FOR SURE, should have pulled away. LOOK AT HIS FUCKING FACE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!! He doesn't look like a man who looks uncomfortable in the slightest. He looks seduced and aroused by a… goddamn it fill in the blanks!
She tells him "Don't be afraid of me" or something and kisses him. 4. Long. Excruciating. Seconds. Too long for him to all of a sudden pull back and say, "We gotta go". He didn't say, "This is wrong" or "WTF?!" - No. WE. GOTTA. GO.
NASTINESS ASS MAN! WHADAFUCK?!
He wanted that. I know people will blame her as people love to do that when it comes to these situations and yes the parents are culpable as well but HE'S THE ADULT WHO SHOULD BACK THE FUCK OFF IMMEDIATELY AND TELL THE PARENTS WHAT'S UP!!!!
And now this fool telling this girl to "Come on" in a hush tone, all worried now. Yeah, you should be. Arrives home, downs what looked to be a double shot of vodka (I could be wrong) of possible regret…
The next day, Nick is working, smoking a cigar. Suddenly he hears a noise. Well, his nosy ass decides to check it and what do you know… Adrian is sunbathing by the pool and if the camera shot on Adrian is supposed to symbolize Nick, it follows the length of her body, all the way up until she loosens the strap of her bathing suit.
Adrian looks up. Smirks.
Nick quickly close the blinds and sucks hard on the cigar. Yeah, you're disgusting and you better contemplate hard as to why you were grilling that hard at a 14 year old teenager.
BTW, the music that plays during this scene is absolutely disgusting and deplorable and the everyone involved with the movie is fucked up. Producers, writers, directors - everyone. It screamed "ENCOURAGE THIS BEHAVIOUR!!!!"
Well, Nick needed to create distance because clearly he has some sort of an addiction (I think he did), so what does he do? Has a BBQ. He invites his co-workers over and among them is Amy, the photographer - a grown ass woman - who also has a crush on him.
So when Nick introduces Amy to Adrian (Two "A" names, huh? Okay…) he says, "My landlord's kid." He is trash. Trying to be flippant like he wasn't acting like she was damn near a full ass adult a minute ago. Nasty man.
Later after her run-in with Adrian and the wasp hive in the orchard/wooded area, Amy and Nick are talking and Amy asks Nick what's with "your friend" Adrian.
First off she said "friend" which was… bad. That's not his "friend" and that shouldn't even be normalized.
Nick is taken aback, thinking they were getting along. Amy said, "She gives me the creeps." Nick seems to get a little annoyed and throws the little dishrag to the side and says, "She's just a kid."
THAT'S NOT HOW YOU SEE HER! Because if you did, you wouldn't have asked her the questions you asked her earlier. Disgusting.
So Amy tells his ass truths he needed to hear. The child has a crush on you. You can't blur the lines.
(Sorry Amy, he already has)
Nick shrugs off Amy, "Don't be ridiculous," then proceeds to play a message left on the answering machine by Adrian that sounded almost like what a girlfriend would leave for a boyfriend.
This fool Nick asks Amy, "Do you think I did something to provoke this?"
I love Amy for this. She asks, "Did you?"
This fool Nick grins nervously (2nd time he does that, btw) and says "Of course not" and walks away. He knows he has. He's invited the bullshit.
Amy should've taken the hint, though. Once he answered in that way, she should've taken a few steps back within HER crush with him and been like, "Is he the right one?"
RED FLAGS! RED FLAGS! AMY, don't get too deep into him!
In the next scene, Adrian wants Nick to come out and "play" and Nick says he's working. Adrian then tells Nick she received her "monthly visitor" and that she was "definitely not pregnant."
This was seriously disturbing now and where Nick should have damn near ran to her parents and spoke to them about their daughter. But what does this man ask her?
"Did you take my picture, the one of me and my grandfather?"
Yeah, he looked a bit perturbed, but not for the right reason.
Of course she denies it.
So Nick goes over to Adrian's house, knocks on the door, gets no answer, calls out her name. He goes around to the other side of her home and looks inside. He sees a picture frame, clearly thinking it was the same frame as the one he had. He also decided to just open the door and walk inside. Forget about knocking on the door or walking away and waiting. Ain't no way he was that thirsty for a photo.
Well, Eliot the Idiot walks into the house, and even though he says "Hello?", he was not invited in, therefore, breaking and entering - a crime. Not your home and you have no right to be in there, even if Adrian's thieving ass had your photo. Anyways, he makes his way upstairs and into Adrian's bedroom. He looks around, being creepy.
Then he does something so fucking disgusting and vile. This nasty ass man sees, what I assume is Adrian's underwear under her bed - he friggin' takes the tip of his foot, drags it from under the bed to look at it for a moment then replaces it back under the bed.
WTF?!!!!?! THIS GUY IS JUST....TRASH!!!!!!!!!!
He then sees a heart shaped pillow Adrian made that had their initials on it. I could have sworn this fucker had a small smirk on his face.
Anyways, all of a sudden Nick hears the shower come on and sneaks into Adrian's closet once he sees she was preparing herself for a bath. Adrian goes to her room and starts to undress. When she gets close to her birthday suit Nick's sick ass flinches hard enough to be heard by hitting some hangers in the closet.
Adrian isn't dumb. She stops for a moment. Now she puts on a show which is so unfortunate but she's young and she has a crush on this dumb, disgusting ass man and thinks she's an adult. So, birthday suit on, she turns and faces the closet, smiling at him and this man watches it all, eyes widening.
Nick has sunk below depths of shite-y hell.
When Adrian walks away, can you believe this POS, nasty ass man comes out of the closet sweating?! I'm sorry, he was not in there long enough for it to be that hot. His sick ass was turned on by what he saw and when she left he tried to get out of there as fast as he could.
And it didn't work. Cliff, the father, was just coming home with bunch of shit in his hands, surprised that Nick was all up in his house and he didn't look too pleased. Nick was caught and acted like it. He acted like a boyfriend who wasn't supposed to be alone with the girlfriend and was caught by the girlfriend's father.
Cliff read the situation very quickly. So when Nick tried to scurry out of there quickly he was like, "I need help with these boxes, my back isn't gonna make it" excuse after he asked Eliot the Idiot why he was there and he said he was there to return a book he borrowed from Adrian. Cliff wasn't buying it.
Nick follows Cliff to the attic where Cliff partly explains why Adrian acts like a grown-up. He builds her a carousel, hopes the attic turned into a playroom, she never took to it. Cliff watches Nick and says that Adrian is a special girl and foolio Nick agrees saying, "She's very bright." Then Cliff says, "This past year she really has blossomed… physically, I mean -"
Eliot the Idiot says, "Mmm, I've noticed."
Pause.
The father paused. I paused.
WTF?!
The father smiled and it didn't reach his eyes.
So Cliff starts talking about dreading the day a guy comes to see Adrian and… well… uses colorful words, but makes an idle threat while playing with pliers that I think was more towards Nick than it was toward the imaginary young fellas he hinted toward. Then laugh maniacally which prompts Nick to laugh as well.
If he only knew. He probably did.
Well, Adrian drops by the attic saying she was scared and didn't know who was up there. Nick looked worried.
Nick tries to leave and Cliff, who was suspicious of Nick, asks Adrian what book Nick borrowed.
HAHAHAHAHHAAAA!!!!
Adrian really was no help because she gives it away by sounding confused saying, "Book?" then saying, "Oh, you mean Wuthering Heights" or something like that and the father, who I think was not buying their shit, said, "Wuthering Heights, huh? Sounds a little femme to me!"
Yeah, he wasn't buying that story. Eliot the Idiot literally tells Cliff he was returning a book and Adrian was upstairs, acting clearly guilty. Then Adrian, instead of putting on some clothes, purposely goes to the attic in a robe, freshly bathed implying to her father that something may have happened especially the way she answered Nick and Nick's stupid, disgusting ass answered in the most guilty way possible.
Anyways, the next scene the director and/or whomever greenlit/wrote this part are purely fucking disgusting. There was no need to see Adrian on the swing from that angle. NOT AT ALL. If you've watched the movie you know what I'm talking about.
Moving along. On this same scene, Nick is once again being a weirdo, peeping through his blinds watching Adrian. Then he decides to go and confront her.
Adrian continues to swing even when he asks her to stop so they can speak. He tells her he likes her and she tells him she like him as well.
But, of course, Eliot the Idiot creep can't help but be creepy saying he likes her but as a friend and that "…let's face it, your 14, I'm 28…"
Couldn't just stop at "just as a friend" huh? And even that's a no-no at this point. Weirdo, pervert. Ugh.
So Adrian isn't hearing it, she's like whatever and he's being serious. He turns to walk away and she reminds him about what happened at the lighthouse or the "make-out" spot and Nick saying the kiss was a mistake (bro, you allowed it just like you allowed her to somehow get you to drive y'all to the lighthouse). Then she reminds him about being in her bedroom and he couldn't even answer her.
Guilty as charged.
Nick's nasty ass is furious and starts barking at Adrian saying she's too young for him and she is, at this point, seeing him as a joke and, of course, low key hurt and rejected. Dumbass Nick should've told her parents everything… with a lawyer at this point but I guess this fool was in too deep.
So after Adrian done scratched up Nick's ho ass vehicle, Adrian's friend, Cheyenne, informs Nick she had something to tell him about Adrian and to meet her in the orchard later that night and she runs off.
Clearly Nick has not learned anything. Another teenager you need not to meet ALONE anywhere without their parents. Yo ass can't stay away, can't you, Nick? Besides the BBQ and Amy, have we seen Nick with any adult friends? Male friends? SICKO, WEIRDO!!!!
Since Adrian rigged Cheyenne's horse and was injured, Adrian ends up being at the orchard waiting, jealous and pissed that Nick was there waiting for her friend. She tells him why he wasn't going to see Cheyenne and tells him, "You can never be too careful…"
So in the next scene Nick is driving up with Amy. I laugh because bro is using Amy at this point. He didn't seem very interested in her in any romantic way and she had to make the 1st move when they finally did kiss. THEY were more like friends, if anything. Amy was the one with the crush on him. But Nick is obviously trying to distance himself from Adrian… and his urges.
Nick purposely hands Amy the keys knowing Adrian's nosy ass was always lurking and her parents were mostly never around, so he wanted Adrian to know he had a "girlfriend" now - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
Adrian was indeed sitting on the steps of Nick's apartment and Amy walks up the steps. Adrian asks Amy if she ever been to the lighthouse. Amy said, "Shelter Point?"
Adrian's like, "Yeah, make-out place."
Amy said, "Not since high school."
Adrian then says, reminiscing, "Nick took me… maybe he'll take you sometime."
Amy took her sunglasses off on that one.
RED FLAGS! RED FLAGS!
AMY! Your crush is trash! Adrian may have severe issues but she wasn't lying. Even you knew that was a make out place. To make it worse, in the beginning you told that man about Adrian and he shrugged it off and what does he do? Plays a voicemail where Adrian left a message like a goddamn girlfriend he just started dating.
I digress. Amy turns and runs inside and Nick walks up and pretty much ignores Adrian until Adrian says, "Hi." Nick turns and looks at her like she was shit, like he didn't know her.
Fuel to the fire.
So what does Adrian do? Fuck up Nick's super important article - deleting the file completely.
What a MORON!!! How does this man not have a back-up… AT WORK? Even back then you can have back up floppy disks to back up your work files at work and home. He was already sloppy and not punctual, which he showed throughout the movie.
What's interesting is - man, fuck him and his article. Only reason why he even got anywhere with the subject he wrote about is because Adrian wrote the first one and no matter what, since he never disclosed anything to his editor - his boss, regarding who wrote the article, he would be in violation of plagiarism.
Nick should be fired. I'm actually surprised in the end Adrian didn't show proof to Pique magazine that she wrote the article, which would have ruined Nick's career.
Anyways, he calls Amy all pissed off expecting her to know who screwed him over right away, snapping at her (RED FLAG AGAIN, AMY!) and then after he tells her to help him keep their boss, Michael, at bay, he then says to her he was going to move out once he finishes the article.
"Smart move, Eliot!", Amy retorts. I find that funny. At least she knew, with her dry humor, that her crush was dumb and that he FINALLY saw that Adrian was a problem.
Once Nick hangs up the phone with Amy, he notices a floppy disk on the ground and under it is a whole other room, sort of a basement, and he finds an obsessive love shrine that Adrian created with candles all over and a picture of Nick sitting outside that Adrian clearly took.
(Madness to have lighted candles everywhere in place that is mostly made of wood… that would freak me out)
Nick is even more pissed.
It's on.
So now Nick nails down the door of the room he was in and then works on the article and Adrian continues to call and call and call Eliot… over 99 times, possibly more because in those days, answering machines - not all - showed over 99 missed calls. He picked up and put the phone down. Eventually he stopped answering. He changes the lock on the door.
And Adrian is spinning, frustrated.
Nick completes the article, gets to work, interrupts his boss, which is quite bold, btw, and places the finished article down next to him and sits down, fully satisfied that was out of the way.
Nick goes apartment shopping and this time doesn't care for aesthetics. The first time around he did… clearly, as he went from place to place and took his time. This time around we don't see that. The landlord isn't an attractive career woman with a young daughter living on the premises. The landlord is an older woman with an adult son who may or may not live on the premises. Furthermore, the place isn't attractive looking on the outside. The man wants out of what he now considers a hindrance to his life.
Nick drives back "home" and looks up at the Forrester house. When he initially saw the house prior to moving in, he smiled. This time, he doesn't.
Next scene he's packing and Amy comes over, bearing a gift, a bottle of wine. She's glad that he's moving but she seems nervous. She asks him to be her date to their boss' benefit and he's like, "You mean on a date?"
Gee dude… you didn't give much flack to a fuckin' teenager who asked you to take her driving at the dead of night without the permission of her parents… where you mutually kissed her... you… Creep.
I digress. Poor Amy, who should've not asked this creep-o out anyways, stood up to leave and foolio brought her back, was only worried about dating someone who works with him at the job.
Amy explains she didn't want him slow dancing with their co-worker Samantha or a 13 year old.
This fuckin' guy corrected her and says 14 year old.
RED FLAG! RED FLAG! RED FLAG!
Really?!?! That's the concern? Amy, a grown-up, grown-ass woman that has a crush on you is telling you how she feels and is super aware of these individuals in your life. She also really likes you which tells me, which is a bit presumptuous of me because it's only 1 man we see her crushing on but her judgment skills is sharp on everything BUT NICK!
I don't know why this comes to mind but he looks a fuckin' penile implant.
Anyways, after he corrects her, he kisses her. NOT A ROMANTIC SCENE!
NO AMY!!!!!!!!! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!
And even with the so-called changes to the locks, Adrian was able to get in, see the after-sexed Amy and Nick and was hurt.
Beyond obsession. Where are her parents?
Btw, Amy, spooning Nick is telling. She is so much into him than he is of her. But we already know this.
Anyways, so as all the noise was being made at the Forrester house, Nick couldn't wait to run over to check. There was no need to. As soon as he got close and saw her acting a fool, he should've turned the fuck around and called her parents. That's it, that's all. He can't help but interact with her.
I like Amy, btw. The next day when she runs into Adrian and Adrian, who already knew what Nick and Amy did at Nick's apartment the night before, starts asking personal-assed questions, keeps it real with Adrian. She basically tells her, "When you grow up and get into a real relationship you'll realize Nick was a crush and you've completely forgotten about him."
Sad thing is, I want this for you, Amy. Leave Nick, NOW!
Adrian, thinking she is so much smarter and adult than everyone is doing what she did to Nick earlier, acting like she is taking the advice but in a condescending/mocking way.
I don't blame Amy for shading her in the nicest way possible and driving off. Who needs that shit? Besides… Amy never even saw or met her parents which should've been…
RED FLAG! RED FLAG! RED FLAG!
So it sucks that Adrian did what she did to Amy in her darkroom… unleashing all those wasps on her because she didn't like that she told the truth.
Btw, I'm still trying to figure out how Adrian was able to get her black and white photographic paper/print in Amy's darkroom. Maybe this happened days later and Adrian was able to obtain a copy of a key to Amy's lock? That usually doesn't happen. The paper/prints was within the other paper/prints that Amy dipped in the stop bath. Then again, the paper/print that Amy pulled out first was of Nick at the BBQ. I think Adrian may have infiltrated Amy's darkroom or have been watching Amy ever since after the BBQ at Nick's apartment so that she could put her own paper/print in the batch and waited to catch Amy slippin', possibly leaving the darkroom unattended. And since she knew Amy didn't care for the wasps... well...
Next you see Adrian buttering up to Nick who was on the phone receiving news about Amy. First off, so rude once again walking up in there and starts talking about her upcoming horse whatever competition which I would have to say he probably didn't hear one word she said because HE WAS ON THE PHONE! She literally invited herself in.
I will be nitpicky here. So smart she is but she asks "Can I come in?"
Can you? Sorry, it's the smart ass-ness she displays. Everyone is dumb and she is a genius. I am by no means a literary genius but "May I?" is the appropriate way if you are seeking permission.
Sigh, but once again, as frustrated as I can be with Adrian, this needs to be towards her parents for the most part, which I will get to.
Nick states Amy is in the hospital and Adrian tries to be sympathetic, putting her hand on his and Nick snatches his hand away.
The next scene poor Cheyenne's arm is in a sling and Adrian is lying to Cheyenne saying Nick was crying on her shoulder, which I'm sure her "friend" didn't believe. Adrian walks away, snobbery in full display.
Adrian is on her horse looking for Eliot the Idiot in the crowd and can't find him. Her parents are smiling in the stands, supporting her but being nosy as the father, Cliff, had binoculars and was checking out the stands and the mother was reaching out a hand to Cliff to take them from him, but Adrian doesn't care, she only wants Nick.
So what does she do? Takes a cab to the Nick's boss' benefit (I wonder how she knew he was there? Called his job? Tapped into his computer? Broke into his apartment? Probably the latter) and rushes towards Nick who is ironically standing next to Samantha (interesting… poor Amy) and comes right up to him in front of everyone and kisses him.
ALL BAD.
He asks her what she was doing there and she said she missed him at the show and he mutters go on and get out of here (I'm sorry but when he says that to her, I laughed). Adrian gives him one of the most nastiest slaps during that decade in cinema at the time. My goodness.
ALL BAD.
Everyone looks at him now and she is talking shit, making up a bunch of crap. This man proceeds to grab her arm and damn near drags her out of there and these people just stared, which is crazy. She looks like a teenager compared to them and they are staring.
When they are out of everyone's sightlines, she starts acting more crazy. He tells her to stay away from him and she says she loves him and "You love me!" and tries to kiss him. She starts screaming and again she tries to kiss him and she succeeds and he slams her against the wall. He then says, "You're pathetic," and walks away, wiping the kiss off of his mouth. Sorry but I'm not convinced he wasn't into any of it. He was. He should've called the cops instead hiding the way he did.
To make this all so terrible, not one of those adults called the authorities. Adrian screamed. Even before that, they witnessed her slapping HIM! Very nasty culture. Humans love watching drama. Listen to the song "Vicarious" from a band called, Tool, and you'll understand why I say that.
Now that Adrian has embarrassed him in front of his colleagues and his boss at a job function, he needs to move now, so he goes back to the apartment he was supposed to move into within a week - at Mrs. Tinkerman's (I didn't mention her name earlier) and she was like, "Fuck off, the apartment's taken, I don’t rent to drug dealers."
Of course who else could've told her that? You guessed it.
Nick isn't taking no for an answer so he keeps banging on Mrs. Tinkerman's door until her son opens it and threatens him. Nick leaves.
For all we know, Adrian may have done Mrs. Tinkerman a favor.
Well, Nick heads back to the dreaded apartment he lives at but as he's driving… Nick stops at a red light or something. This weirdo watches kids play, 2 girls and a boy. He watches them long enough that the driver behind him honks their horn.
RED FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG!
Listen, no harm in watching kids play, man or woman, depending. However, we have collected enough evidence that show the grossness that is Nick Eliot.
Nick drives up to the residence and there's police.
Uh-oh.
Nick asks what's going on and the policeman tells Nick to step out of the car. Nick asks again and the policeman, who becomes a little rough with Nick says, "sexual assault on a minor."
Nick starts denying it and asks the policeman to wait and gets a look at Adrian and her parents, while handcuffed.
Cliff sees Nick and starts running over to him while calling him an animal and attacks Nick which the cops let Cliff get a few shots in. The mom yelling, "Cliff!" in the most half-hearted, non-concerned way had me cracking up. No urgency in it. They throw Nick's dumb ass in the back seat and he gets a good look at Adrian who smirks at him.
When Adrian lies and explains the "sexual assault", it's sad. Adrian says she and Nick went swimming and hung out a couple of times.
There should be frickin' child protection services there just by that statement alone. Why was your daughter EVER ALONE WITH THAT MAN WITHOUT YOUR PRESENCE? Even though these are lies, all the other events were not made up. She WAS alone with him more than a couple of times. They've kissed. He's been in her home without permission, played peekaboo with her underwear and saw her naked.
Now, the cops are with Nick and Nick is trying to explain everything Adrian has done to him. Of course they don't believe him. THE IDIOT NEVER REPORTED ANYTHING!!!!!! He never told her parents anything until his car was scratched up and when they didn't believe him with that, he never told them anything afterwards which is stupid that, 1. He didn't continue documenting Adrian's bullshit and 2. He didn't start looking for an apartment right after the car incident. He didn't take Adrian seriously because he didn't want to. He also had a crush on Adrian. YES, I am saying that. He did, which makes him a putrid, piece of shite. Amy warned him but Amy didn't know he already went too far with Adrian at the point.
And here he is caught the fuck up, yelling at the cops at the top of his lungs (imagine if my black ass was in there yelling like that? No need to roll your eyes because I'm making it a race thing but the climate we're in - whaddya gonna do?) because his horny ass didn't know how to ignore a teenager and report her to her parents and if that didn't work - MOVE!
The cops calmly bring the hammer down. They found, um, cement, in her. Read between the lines.
Nick's pathetic ass is bailed out by his boss and attorney. They clearly don't believe him and I don't blame his boss only because of what he witnessed at his own benefit (although, um, he didn't call the authorities as well so…)
They tell him the "cement" matched his DNA and pretty much kick rocks from that apartment as they, the parents, took Adrian out of town. They could barely look at this fool.
Later that night Nick is packing and Cheyenne visits him, not believing he did the things he was accused of.
Cheyenne, he has done some nasty things. Believe me.
Nick, although he tells Cheyenne to kick rocks, decides he needs a little liquor. Besides, he's in the company of the demographic he's comfortable with. Nick drinks a lot. Always sweating. Seems to be the only person sweating.
Btw, Cheyenne knew where the key was located for Adrian's backdoor.
Now here's what's really interesting. Adrian starts playing the piano and Nick hears it at his place. Why is this interesting? If we go back near to the beginning when he came to the party, he decided to go to the party mostly because he heard the music playing but within the music was the piano playing as well. Adrian was the one playing. Kind of Pied Piper-ish. I'm assuming that was what this director/writer was alluding to. The reality is, at this point, her ass isn't supposed to be there. She's supposed to be "down the coast somewhere" with the parents so that Nick can finish moving out.
Nick races over to Adrian's house looking for Cheyenne but finds another weird shrine dedicated to Nick and this time the picture of him and grandfather is found, but Nick's face is scratched out. Adrian appears behind him, jealous, thinking Nick wants Cheyenne now. Nick ignores Adrian's crazy talk and keeps calling out for Cheyenne and Adrian attacks him.
When Adrian was about to kill, Nick, Cliff arrives home. Eventually everyone gets to the attic. Nick sees that Cheyenne is tied to the carousel that Adrian turns on. When Nick tries to rescue Cheyenne, Adrian attacks Nick and then turns into a victim once Nick gets the upper hand. Cliff attacks Nick but then his own daughter tells Cliff to "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" and clocks him over the head, knocking him out. Nick gets up and Adrian runs full speed at Nick screaming like a lunatic and Nick… quick jabs her in the face sending Adrian flying into linens, pillows and stuffed animals.
Go figure.
Nick is now living with Amy (NOOOOOOO AMY!!!), which is where I think he was moving to before all the craziness happened at the end with Cheyenne, Cliff and Adrian. He was napping or sleeping on the sofa… I'm trying to figure that one out, but I thought that was interesting. It might be that Amy is taking the relationship slowly and although they are living together, she isn't rushing to have him in her bed and/or bedroom yet. If that's the case, good on her.
Amy tells him he missed a meeting and throws a stack of mail at him. He thumbs through it and it's mail from Adrian that was sent to Pique, Nick's employer's office.
Okay. First off, his employer should be all over this shit. They should be suing Adrian's parents and/or ceasing any further harassing contact toward their employee. Because this is harassment still. At this point, it's been proven Adrian has mental health issues as you see her being put in a non-padded cell sans a straightjacket. It doesn't matter if this is "homework" from a doctor. First off, the doctor would know that you're not supposed to actually send the letters to the person who was actually harassed! That's insane.
Well, Nick and his dirty thumb nail go through the mail and that's the last you see of him. Looking confused. Looking like Eliot the Idiot.
Adrian moves on to her next crush, which is another dummy who is being finessed in every way and is as questionable as Nick.
Interesting that the doctor has a brunette for a wife.
These dudes have a thing for young blondes.
Sickos.
And the cycle continues.
Final Thoughts:
There is a specific co-worker, a guy I think that didn't like Nick very much. Y'all be the judge of that. I believe it was the case. He seemed to always had the same stank face every time he is seen around Nick. I thought he was at the BBQ Nick had with his co-workers but it wasn't the same guy. Dude definitely not feeling Nick and I don't blame him.
Adrian was menace but she clearly, clearly had mental issues. Although I want to sit and get on her for so many things, I'm unable to. I think she grew up a loner that actually needed her family and somewhere along the way she stopped needing/wanting them and decided to attach herself to adult men.
Which brings me to her love for Wuthering Heights.
Adrian has Wuthering Heights plastered all over her room. She seems obsessed with a book that's partly about obsession, toxicity and revenge.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a Gothic novel about obsessive love and revenge on the Yorkshire moors. Below is a loose summary of what the book is about that I obtained froma search engine. Read it, don't read it, up to you.
The Frame Story
1801: Mr. Lockwood rents Thrushcross Grange and visits his landlord, Heathcliff, at the gloomy Wuthering Heights.
The Ghost: A snowstorm traps Lockwood. He has a nightmare where the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw tries to enter through a window.
The Tale: Lockwood's housekeeper, Nelly Dean, tells him the dark history of the two families.
Rise and Betrayal
The Foundling: Mr. Earnshaw brings home a homeless orphan named Heathcliff to Wuthering Heights.
The Bond: Earnshaw's son Hindley hates Heathcliff, but daughter Catherine falls deeply in love with him.
The Split: After Earnshaw dies, Hindley reduces Heathcliff to a servant. Catherine loves Heathcliff, but chooses to marry the wealthy Edgar Linton for social status. Heathcliff overhears part of this and runs away.
Revenge
The Return: Heathcliff returns years later as a wealthy gentleman, bent on total revenge.
The Destruction: He ruins Hindley through gambling to take Wuthering Heights, and marries Edgar’s sister Isabella just to be cruel.
Catherine's Death: Catherine falls ill and dies after giving birth to a daughter named Cathy. Heathcliff begs her ghost to haunt him.
Resolution
The Next Generation: Heathcliff forces young Cathy to marry his sickly son, Linton, seizing control of both estates.
The End of Malice: Exhausted by his obsession and visions of Catherine's ghost, Heathcliff stops eating and dies.
Peace: Young Cathy and Hindley's son, Hareton, fall in love and plan to marry, ending the cycle of hatred
So with that explained (thank you search engines), it makes me wonder if Adrian is the biological daughter to the Forrester's and if they tried to have more children and couldn't. Adrian is more likely than not their biological child. I digress, though. Adrian raised herself and that became the problem in the end.
Nick.
This moron walked himself into the pit when he didn't have to. Movie would've ended in 5 minutes, probably, unless she didn't take "No" for an answer.
Several people needed to run several background checks on Nick. He sounds like he's from England. Who knows how long and how many times he's been out there playing these weird games with young'uns. He didn't come off like a novice and when Amy questioned him he became defensive and weird. Nick didn't alert her parents right away and warned them that if Adrian did that shit again, coming up into his apartment without him knowing or whatever, he was moving and he wanted his goddamn deposit back.
Nick had his own compulsions, unfortunately. Once it started to fuck with his life, and too many people can see INTO his personal life, including Amy, he didn't want them to see that side, he didn't like it and wanted… out. Had he been caught with Adrian, he would've been charged with child molestation.
Nick is nasty.
The parents.
Sadly, in this scenario, the parents have to share in the blame for Adrian's mental health. It seems their careers came first. Some children are self-sufficient, independent, and well-rounded, as long as they are supported, heard and financially stable. Then there are some children who need their parents presence. I think Adrian may have been that type of child who needed their parents presence and verbal support.
So fast forward to when both parents explain the personality of Adrian. Her mother called her, "Headstrong" and her dad still saw her as a little girl that he didn't want to grow up. The mother saw her more as an independent person, which can be dangerous.
When Nick and Adrian were at the lighthouse and Adrian apologized for writing the article and explained it wasn't okay regarding what she did, she further explained her parents made her skip 2 grades in school. For some children that's isolating, because they don't get to be with the friends they may have grown up with but instead now be with older classmates while being the youngest and they may or may not relate to you because of age and your ability to learn and/or absorb information more quickly and/or efficiently than other children. So her explanation about Cheyenne being "forced" to be her friend may be correct but I think Cheyenne, who comes off as a sympathetic character, may have felt pity for Adrian and was willing to keep her secrets...up until the end. Once Adrian's mental state opened up Cheyenne's eyes even more with her own horse riding accident, she needed to spring into action and could no longer be a bystander/witness to Adrian's instability and descent into madness.
Adrian's parents, sadly, saw Adrian as a trophy child, a creation they made that exalted them into a higher social status amongst the mummies in their social circle and that's even sadder. Never once was there a scene showing them as a family seated together having a conversation and Adrian expressing some sort of feeling/emotion and the only time she did well...I will mention this when her mom tucks her in bed for the night in a moment.
Let's move back to when Adrian explains the fake assault to the cops and her parents:
The thing is, when Adrian reported that Nick assaulted her, the cops and DA would also have to follow up with an investigation into the parents because… why was the 14 year old left alone with a 28 year old man on their property? The mother was clearly some sort of lawyer or judge as she spent her time in "courts" so she would know the law better than anyone and should have known not to leave her child with some random ass man, even if she vetted him…right?
Another thing that was interesting was, after Nick and Adrian came back from the "make out" spot, and Adrian's mother was tucking her in for the night with a kiss, Adrian said, "I love you, mommy". The mother turned off the light, got up (Adrian's smile disappearing from behind her back, btw), gave Adrian a look, then closed the door. That scene was telling. It made me think her mom knew her daughter very well and probably saw her more as an adult than daughter so the childish act Adrian was putting on wasn't lost on her. And she never told her daughter "I love you," back.
So maybe the mom's lack of "mothering", made Adrian respond to her father, who continued to see her as a child still, like an adult, saying things like, "I ride real horses, now." Also, the lack of mothering is partly why Adrian acted like a grown woman and her father's treatment of her, like she was still a child under 12 and like his princess, is why she liked older men and wanted their absolute attention and adoration from them. Her parents mixed messaging fucked her up.
Very Sad.
Alicia Silverstone emancipated herself so she could play the role of Adrian in this movie. I'm speechless. I won't even bother going further into this one but go ahead and do some research. Easy to find her talking about this.
Can you friggin' believe this story is based on events that happened in the writer/director's life? The person whom he based Adrian on sued for using her real name, so Adrian was used.
First off… how brazen, how foul, how- we live in a fucked up world. We truly do. Because this writer/director Alan Shapiro found absolutely nothing wrong with putting a movie out regarding statutory rape or even the flirtation of it - oh, and letting people know based on the events of his life and that "I'm such an asshole and don't even use a completely different name for the teen, I use a name dangerously similar." THIS WAS OKAY IN 1993.
And still in this day and age we still blame the children, the teenagers. The ones who are still figuring out their bodies, dealing with new and changing hormones - both boys and girls. The adults get away with it.
And continue to get away with it.
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