I agree with Dr. Perry that we should be careful attributing incoherence. I would have thought that making sense of narratives, appreciating them on their own terms, was a big part of our job. Before I attribute inconsistency I must find glaring and unexplainable lapses in whatever logic explains everything else in the movie. I would take testimony from one of the chief collaborators as evidence of story trouble, however. Along those lines, I recall Verhoeven reporting that Basic Instinct had a major cheat -- Beth assumes a hostile stance when she has no reason to do so. This inspires Nick to blow her out of her socks, advancing the plot. Everything else in that movie fits together pretty well, if you're willing to enter that moral universe. I mentioned Cruising before, as another example of a movie with a director who acknowledges narrative problems. I wonder if it's a coincidence that the two movies share imagery and themes. Does Sea of Love, close cousin to these two, have similar story problems? Not that it matters, of course. When I need stories that make no sense whatsoever I go to see recent Robin Williams movies. N -- Neal King Belmont University Sociology Nashville TN 37212 615 460 6231 http://www.belmont.edu/Pages/FS/King.Neal/nkt.html ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite