An appreciation for one of Goldie Hawn’s greatest underseen roles
Amy Schumer returns to the big screen in the new comedy Snatched, playing a self-absorbed millennial who, after being dumped, is forced to take her mother (Goldie Hawn) on vacation to South America where the two find themselves falling into all kinds of hilarious trouble.
Snatched marks Hawn’s first screen role in 15 years, during which time the actress has devoted her life to building a foundation which helps students all over the world manage stress and anxiety. Her role in Snatched is the kind of turn the actress knocks out of the park, proving herself to still be the comedic force she’s always been in films like Private Benjamin and Bird on a Wire. While audience have lapped up those and many of the other titles which made Hawn a star, for me, it’ll always be her turn in the noirish thriller Deceived which remains a favorite.
Originally called The Mrs. (later re-named when it was decided that title sounded too comedic), Deceived stars Hawn as Adrienne Saunders, a New York art restorer who has, by all accounts, the perfect life. She’s got a wonderful marriage to a successful museum buyer named Jack (John Heard), is mother to the cute Mary (Ashley Peldon) and the business she co-own’s is thriving. However when her husband’s name is linked to a forged art piece, and a close friend suddenly dies, things begin to turn. When Jack’s whereabouts and actions prove questionable, Adrienne begins to suspect something is definitely wrong. After Jack dies mysteriously in a car accident, it isn’t long before Adrienne discovers that her perfect life wasn’t all it seemed.
Deceived was part of the neo-noir boom that occurred in the early 90s and included a cycle of films such as Malice, Shattered and Presumed Innocent, among others. All of these films were being churned out at a somewhat rapid rate, despite only a handful being actual box-office hits. In this way, the strength of Deceived remains its universality. This is a film which feels as if it could as easily have been made in the 1940s as the 90s. In both eras, the idea of woman having to plunge herself into darkness for either redemption or survival was commonplace as was the fact that she more or less did it on her own. Deceived unashamedly favors story over jump thrills (another noir trait) in its efforts to genuinely take its audience on Adrienne’s journey as she uncovers one clue after another regarding the man she called her husband. That doesn’t mean that the film has Hawn just playing a 90s Nancy Drew; but Deceived carefully doles out its shock moments in quiet ways at the most of strategic of times, making them all the more effective as a result. When the more up front scares and surprises show up in the third act, the film’s adrenaline kicks up, but wisely never becomes just about making audiences jump. From beginning to end, Deceived remains solely about a woman unraveling the life she thought she was living in order to find out the truth of it.
All of this aside, it’s Hawn that can be pointed to as one of the key reasons for making Deceived work. Her presence here is a solid lesson against typecasting. Not only are Hawn’s wide eyes able to highlight both the fright and the suspicion her character must go through, but her silky voice is able to so eloquently project the most solemn of dialogue. Hawn’s participation in Deceived is also a brilliant move on another level. In order for Deceived to work, it needs an actress who is instantly loveable and identifiable in the lead role. While femme fatales such as Sharon Stone and Demi Moore could have made the film work, only someone like Hawn, one of the most beloved actresses of all time, was the right choice for Deceived. The image of someone recognizable and cherished by movie audiences placed in danger has the ability to garner instant emotional investment. Adrienne as a character isn’t painted as a holier-than-thou saint, but there’s something about her which is worth admiring, which makes it tragic when the core of what she cherished in life is taken from her. Having her portrayed by Hawn, makes it all the more compelling.
Whatever problems the film has (namely a shoddy editing job), Hawn makes Deceived work. She abandons all aspects of the giggly, carefree persona she spent so many years cultivating on the screen to play a woman both lost and terrified. She’s well partnered with Heard who managed his last best role between Home Alone gigs. The way he plays Jack as both a loving husband and father (wisely never overselling it) and then slowly making himself more and more shadowy figure is just the kind of skilled acting the actor has always been capable of, yet never fully appreciated for.
Although it had a solid release date in the fall of 1991, Deceived was not the kind of hit many were expecting it to be. Critics labeled the film as formulaic and passe while merely brushing over Hawn’s true departure of a performance altogether. At the same time, Hawn’s presence wasn’t enough to woo audiences into theaters and showed no interest in watching what seemed like another “woman in peril” flick. In the end, the film failed to even recoup the amount of money it cost to make.
Every movie star uses his or her clout to take on parts for themselves which will show critics and audiences that they have more to give talent-wise than the kind of material which made them famous. Hawn was never any exception and attempted to prove so over the years with middling results. While the dramas Swing Shift (sadly more notable for its behind-the-scenes events than anything else) and Criss Cross gave Hawn solid roles, there was something about them which simply failed to connect with audiences. It’s not that Hawn can’t function in dramatic landscape. Her turn in Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express remains one of the best performances the director ever put to film. It’s simply that audiences have always loved Goldie in lighthearted dramatic roles. Deceived however, proves she’s capable of much, much more.
