White Palace (1990)

	Directed by: Luis Mandoki	COUNTRY USA GENRE Erotic romantic drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Hvite løgner RUNNING TIME 103 minutes
	Produced by: Griffin Dunne Amy Robinson Mark Rosenberg
	Written by (based on the novel by Glenn Savan): Ted Tally Alvin Sargent

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Nora Baker	Susan Sarandon	½
Max Baron	James Spader	½
Neil	Jason Alexander
Rosemary	Kathy Bates	-
Judy	Eileen Brennan
Sol Horowitz	Steven Hill	-
Larry Klugman	Corey Parker	-
Rachel	Rachel Chagall	-
Edith Baron	Renee Taylor	-
Marv Miller	Jonathan Penner	-

Review

This largely forgotten gem may well have been categorized in the erotic subgenre of films that was so in fashion in the early 1990s, but the key to its brilliance is that this is not really a genre movie at all. Spun around familiar romance tropes such as young vs. old and working class vs. upper middle class, White Palace had every possibility of descending into mediocrity, perhaps especially for anyone balking at the audaciousness of suggesting that relationships such as the one between Nora and Max actually exist. But they do exist, and this is exactly how they look. The screenplay by Ted Tally (who penned Silence of the Lambs a year later) and veteran Alvin Sargent (Straight Time, Ordinary People) is one of the best of its kind, filled with authentic situations and real, sometimes nervous, sometimes heartfelt, sometimes goofy dialogue. And you'll feel so encompassed and ultimately uplifted by it, because the acting by Susan Sarandon as Nora and James Spader as Max is so utterly devoted and accomplished.