Model Behaviour starts with the grizzly murder of a modeling agent. He's had his manhood cutoff, and is posed in a specific position. Detective Jordan Rhodes (Hill) and his partner Carla (Samira Amira) are on the case, and the prime suspect is blond bombshell Alexis (Stacey McMahon), one of the agent's former clients. Pictures of the crime were sent to a fashion magazine from her email account, which is suspicious, but not enough to convict, so Jordan needs to dig deeper. As he does that though, he gets tangled up with Alexis while everything else in his world starts to unravel around him. Will he get it together in time to solve the crime, or will he be consumed by the irresistible forces of these beautiful women?
This was another great one from Nate. We get a mix of early 90s Erotic Thriller, late 90s/early 2000s post-Seven disturbing serial killer mystery, and more modern police procedurals. From a personal taste standpoint, I think it's that third one, the police procedural, that had more of a negative impact, because he used more dynamic camera shots for that, with a lot of movement and zooms in and out, and I prefer more static shots, but I appreciated what he was going for there. As a fan of 90s Erotic Thrillers, this hits all the right spots, from Nate's lead as the guy who seems to have it all together, only to find out he doesn't, and Stacey McMahon as the femme fatale leading us all in circles; to smaller roles like John McCullough's police captain, who's exactly that police captain from all of these films, and Ruben Francis as the psychologist telling us all the things we expect the profiler to tell us about who might be the killer. All of it works for a fun time, what more can you ask for?
I think if I had seen this before Lady Terror I would've gotten that other film better, because this is Nate doing an Erotic Thriller in a more serious, straight ahead fashion, and I could juxtapose that with Lady Terror which was more tongue-in-cheek. The thing is though, as serious as this is, it never strays from the fact that it ultimately should be a fun time. And I think that's why Nate's work resonates so well with me, he makes the kinds of movies I enjoy watching. Like this film, it doesn't try to do too much, but it also doesn't mail anything in either, and that's an important combination. Nate and everyone involved know who their audience is, what they want, and do their best to deliver it. I know when I fire up a Nate Hill picture, I'm going to enjoy myself for the next 80-90 minutes, and in these times where we have so much available at our fingertips, it makes it easier when I'm deciding on the next thing to watch.
Stacey McMahon's Alexis was a real standout as the femme fatale. She does a great job of going from potentially devious with ulterior motives, to sympathetic and someone you want to root for, then back to devious. It's almost easier to be Nate's lead, because he's trying to piece things together, and we follow him on that journey. McMahon's job is to keep us guessing, and do it in a way that's always natural and organic. I was surprised to see that this was her first feature-length performance, and she hasn't done anything since, because her performance here was so strong. None of this works as well as it does without the job she does here, so if this is the only feature-length role she does as an actor, at least it was a good one.
This is one of many films Nate does where his character gets to hook up with very attractive women, but I've noticed the characters he plays often have a lot of bad crap happen to them too. They get seduced, double-crossed, hit over the head with vases, etc. That's another way that his films work though. He's the one making them, he could just as easily say "I'm getting the girl, and I'm also the best person ever and no one can beat me." We've seen so many vanity projects like that--which was why I didn't catch onto the fact that Lady Terror was tongue-in-cheek right away, I've seen that movie done seriously too many times--and I think that's why Nate told us on the podcast that some distributors don't like films written, directed, and starring the same person, they're afraid of some insufferable vanity thing; but Nate's films aren't that, his main characters are flawed and don't always have it all figured out, they don't always win everything, and that's refreshing compared to some of the other things we've seen over the years on the site.
Finally, as Nate's character's life is unraveling, the inevitable happens: the chief suspends him! "Give me your gun and your badge!" I don't know what it's like in Australia, but here in the US that whole thing is a bit unrealistic. First off, if the chief tried to suspend him, the Fraternal Order of Police would either protest, or they'd invoke an arbitration clause in their contract with the city, and once the arbitrator ruled in their favor, Nate's character would be back on the street in no time. I wish more movies used that more realistic approach. Like instead Nate's character being questioned by his fellow officers as things get more dire for him, they'd be like "how do we help cover this up for you? There are no Serpicos in this department!" "But I didn't do anything? I'm not guilty." "Sure you're not... just let us take care of everything and we'll get this behind us... just kinda stop the whole killing thing." "But I'm telling you I'm not the killer!"
Before me and my realism totally dismantles one of our favorite tropes, the "give me your gun and your badge" scene, why don't I wrap this up. Here in the States you can get this on Plex, or buy it on DVD as part of a Hill triple feature with Jasper and Revenge of the Gweilo. If you're looking for a fun Erotic Thriller, this is a great bet.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2391622
And if you haven't yet, check out my newest book, Nadia and Aidan, at Amazon in paperback or Kindle!
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