Have You Seen “Single White Female?”
This terrific thriller is worth a watch. How about this for a tagline?
“Allie’s new roommate is about to borrow a few things without asking. Her clothes. Her boyfriend. Her life.”
“Living With A Roommate Can Be Murder!”
Talk about a great idea for a movie! A newspaper ad looking for a roommate turns deadly! This 1992 thriller stars Jennifer Lason Leigh, Bridget Fonda and Steven Weber, and was directed by Barbet Schroeder. It’s a great cult thriller with strong performances, fun twists, and a delicious sense of humor as well!
When a ‘Single White Female’, played by Bridget Fonda, places an ad in the press for a similar woman to rent a room, all the applicants seem weird. Then along comes a level headed woman who seems to be just right: Jennifer Jason Leigh!
Oh, just one problem: the new “single white female” has a secret past which haunts her. Here is the trailer:
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…”
That’s what Bridget Fonda says when Leigh shows up one day sporting the EXACT same haircut as she has…and it gets worse thanks to Fonda’s easily-manipulated boyfriend.
Steven Weber plays Fonda’s boyfriend, who Leigh needs to get out of the way in order to get closer to Bridget. That leads to a blowup when Fonda is willing to take him back.
“He will cheat on you again – that’s a promise. And when he does, don’t come crying to me, because… I’ve had it with you. You’re so FUCKING weak!“
As you can suspect, it gets worse….much much worse!
“Single White Female” is a terrific thriller, with great performances all around, especially by Jennifer Jason Leigh!
Here’s some great trivia about the film: the so-called “secrets of single white female!”
The Ansonia apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan was used as Bridget’s apartment building. But there’s more – listen as I explain – I just shot this video two days ago, in gorgeous New York spring weather!
That’s right, while her apartment interior was actually a set shot on a soundstage, there are important scenes in the film that take place in the building’s stairwell – and they were shot at The Ansonia!
And what about this coincidence?
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda’s fathers, Actors Vic Morrow and Peter Fonda, acted together as adversaries as well in the 1974 action film “Dirty Mary Crazy Larry”.
Stephen Tobolowsky’s A Good Guy / Bad Guy / Storyteller!
Here’s more “secrets” about the film’s cast: the terrific Actor Stephen Tobolowsky stars in the film as well – as Fonda’s sleazy boss who drives the plot forward when Leigh finds out what his intentions toward Fonda are….and you may remember him as Ned Ryerson!
Yes, THAT Ned Ryerson!
Tobolowsky steals the film “Groundhog Day” every time he appears as Ned Ryerson, the annoying high school friend of Bill Murray’s flustered weatherman, who relives the same day over and over and over…and what about this?
The Fascinating World Of Tobolowsky!
Stephen’s life is so fascinating that a documentary was made, where he invites friends to his birthday party and regales them with fascinating stories!
And one more wild thing to share:
Tobolowsky has a form of ESP he calls “hearing tones”. While working with David Byrne on the film “True Stories”, he told Byrne about his gift, who was inspired to write the song “Radio Head” about him. Then, guess what?
The band Radiohead took its name from this song!
So there you have it: hopefully you found this trivia interesting and have enjoyed Single White Female” as much as I have!
There are so many offbeat slices of cinema that you may not know, or may not have seen, like this Kathleen Turner / Anthony Perkins film from 1984:
It’s wild and wacky, but a lot of trashy fun as well! See the trailer here:
“Single White Female” has a great “re-watch” as well, because it’s so much fun to watch the crazy go down!
And three more terrific films from that decade to share:
“Malice” is just one of three films from the 90’s worth discovering…see them all here:
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Thanks so much for reading, feel free to share on social media and better yet – leave a comment and let me know your favorite cult movies!
Categories: Action Films, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Hollywood, Movies, New York, Pop Culture, Revenge Movies, Talent/Celebrities, True Hollywood Mystery
johnrieber 
Single white female, Singles, Doc Hollywood, It could happen to you. For awhile, Bridget Fonda was in every movie I saw. SWF was probably a little too spooky for me, but I loved her in the others.
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Yes she had a great run and sad she decided to leave the business….
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I saw that on release at the cinema and really enjoyed it. I thought Fonda did well, considering Jennifer had the ‘crazy woman’ main role.
Best wishes, Pete.
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time for me to watch these old thrillers again, they were so creepy and I’m sure would still ring just as true now!
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It’s a timeless thriller that holds up perfectly! Thanks for the comment!
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