The Crush is a 1993 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Alan Shapiro, which stars Cary Elwes as Nick Eliot and Alicia Silverstone as Adrian Forrester, in her feature film debut. When writer Nick Eliot moves to a new city for a magazine job, Adrian Forrester, the teenage daughter of the landlords whose guesthouse he rents, instantly makes her attraction to Nick clear. Nick has trouble fending off Adrian's advances, and as her obsession grows, the situation becomes increasingly dangerous.
The Crush was produced by Morgan Creek Productions and released by Warner Bros. on April 2, 1993. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics on release, but was a box office hit. It became especially popular through the video rental market, and showings on cable television. In subsequent years it has been labeled a cult film.
Contents
Plot
Twenty-eight-year-old writer Nick Eliot secures a job at Pique magazine and lodging in a guest house belonging to Cliff and Liv Forrester in Washington. He soon becomes acquainted with and frequently visited by the couple's 14-year-old daughter Adrian, a precocious girl who becomes infatuated with him. At the magazine, Nick's editor Michael assigns him a story about a criminal mastermind, but upon turning in his work, Nick realizes that the story has been mysteriously re-written to Michael's delight.
Adrian invites Nick to a party that her parents are throwing at the main house. As he enters the house, he is taken by her impressive piano performance. He follows her to an outdoor balcony afterwards, where he muses that if she were ten years older, he would be interested in her romantically. Adrian asks how his boss liked the article, and it becomes clear to Nick that she was the one who re-wrote it. Adrian apologizes and encourages Nick to take her for a ride in his convertible. Nick agrees to drive her to a place of her choosing: a romantic secluded area where she kisses him. While initially receptive, Nick stops and takes Adrian home.
Nick begins a budding romance with coworker and photographer Amy. Soon after, Adrian becomes jealous of Amy and intercepts her in the woods while she is gathering roasting sticks for Nick's barbecue. Amy spots a bees' nest in a tree, and Adrian identifies them as wasps in the form of a subtle warning. After the barbecue, Amy tells Nick that it's clear Adrian has a crush on him and that he needs to rebuff her advances before things get out of hand.
When Nick talks to her about just remaining friends, Adrian's actions become destructive: she steals his favorite childhood photo, graffitis his car, and erases his computer discs; he is unable to convince Adrian's parents of her guilt. Cheyenne, Adrian's only friend, tries to warn Nick about her, but she soon has an "accident" at the riding school she and Adrian attend. Later, Adrian spies on Nick in bed with Amy, and she later traps Amy in her darkroom and empties a nest of wasps into the vents, severely stinging her.
Nick, convinced that Adrian is a psychopath, attempts to find new lodging. However, Adrian accuses him of sexually assaulting her and he is arrested. After Michael bails him out, Cheyenne tells Nick that she knows he is innocent and that Adrian has an extensive history of obsessive behavior, citing a previous crush on a camp counselor named Rick who "accidentally" died from eating something poisonous. Cheyenne also informs Nick of a diary Adrian kept that could exonerate him. After Cheyenne departs, Nick hears strange noises from the Forresters' house. He investigates and finds Cheyenne bound and gagged on Adrian's carousel in the attic. Adrian confronts and attacks him, after which Cliff arrives and attacks Nick when he mistakes him for the aggressor. Adrian knocks Cliff unconscious in defense of her love for Nick, who then subdues her.
Exonerated, Nick goes to live with Amy in Seattle while Adrian is confined to a psychiatric hospital. When she laments that Nick refuses to speak with her, her doctor remarks that she is making good progress. In the final scene, Adrian returns to her room in the hospital, where she glares at a photo of the doctor and his wife before her frown curves into a devious grin.
Cast
Cary Elwes as Nick Eliot
Alicia Silverstone as Adrian/Darian Forrester
Jennifer Rubin as Amy Maddik
Kurtwood Smith as Cliff Forrester
Gwynyth Walsh as Liv Forrester
Amber Benson as Cheyenne
Matthew Walker as Michael
Lawsuit and character name change
Writer and director Alan Shapiro claims to have based the film on events from his own life. The girl on whom he based Adrian sued him for using her real name, Darian, for Alicia Silverstone's character. As a result, when the film was re-edited for television, the character's name was changed from Darian to Adrian. The VHS and laserdisc releases retained the original spoken dialogue that called the character Darian. The original theatrical trailer also refers to the character as Darian.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 27% rating based on reviews from 30 critics. On Metacritic it has a score of 34% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
Brian Lowry of Variety compared the film to Poison Ivy (1992) and called it "another by-the-numbers thriller" and was critical of lack of gore or nudity, suggesting the R rating must stand for "ridiculous."
Hal Hinson of the Washington Post wrote: "There's something scuzzy about the whole exercise."
Janet Maslin of The New York Times said it "Never succeeds in becoming either torrid or scary" and that it "is for the most part grindingly predictable and mechanically played."