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Indecent Proposal poster

Indecent Proposal

year 1993decade 90sdirector Adrian Lynegenre Dramagenre Romance

118 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Robert Redford John Gage
Demi Moore Diana Murphy
Woody Harrelson David Murphy
Oliver Platt Jeremy
Seymour Cassel Mr. Shackleford
Billy Bob Thornton Day Tripper
Rip Taylor Mr. Langford
Billy Connolly Auction emcee
Joel Brooks Realtor
Pierre Epstein Van Buren
Danny Zorn Screenwriter
Kevin West Screenwriter
Pamela Holt David’s girlfriend
Tommy Bush David’s father
Mariclare Costello David’s mother
Curt Odle David’s boss
Jedda Jones Craps woman
Myra J. Craps woman
Edwonda White Craps woman
Joseph Ruskin Pit boss
Maurice Sherbanee Citizenship student

Indecent Proposal | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Mallory Rubinproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Apex Mountain

Demi Moore; Woody Harrelson; Thierry Mugler; sex on cash; John F. Kennedy Jr.; Sade near peak

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:06Read transcript
  • This period is proposed as Demi Moore’s peak following Ghost and A Few Good Men; the later Striptease payday is an alternative.
  • Demi Moore receives an affirmative Apex choice for the commercial success, preceding hits, celebrity position and subsequent Striptease payday; her appearance receives an additional affirmative peak assessment.
  • Harrelson receives an affirmative Apex choice for White Men Can’t Jump, this film and emerging from Cheers as a movie star; True Detective is raised as an absent colleague’s likely alternative.
  • Redford is rejected for Apex here.
  • Sade is placed near her peak.
  • Seal is rejected in favor of the later Kiss from a Rose period.
  • Thierry Mugler receives an affirmative Apex choice.
  • Sex on a large pile of money receives an affirmative Apex choice.
  • Lyne is rejected for Apex here.
  • Craps is rejected for Apex here.
  • John F. Kennedy Jr. receives an affirmative, retrospective Apex discussion for his prominence and the premise’s reported inspiration.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Gage’s billiards proposition

In the discussion (17)
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:30Read transcript
  • The Vegas shopping scene leading into craps is nominated, including Diana’s refusal to be treated as another item for sale.
  • The shopping and craps sequence captures the film’s strongest Vegas stretch and establishes Gage’s interest in borrowing Diana for luck.
  • Billy Bob Thornton’s small appearance as Day Tripper is amusing in retrospect given his later Oscar.
  • The money-covered sex scene after the first successful Vegas day is considered as another scene candidate, with objections deferred.
  • The billiards proposition is praised for its iconic premise-setting line, riveting conversation and insight into Gage’s psychology.
  • Diana answers before David, and Gage insists on hearing from him, deliberately opening a wedge between the couple.
  • Pool-ball continuity undermines the scene’s metaphor: a scratched cue ball reappears, and the play lacks coherent eight-ball or nine-ball rules.
  • The lawyer’s contract negotiation is a favorite, particularly payment without consummation and the John Garfield death-during-sex clause.
  • Jeremy’s insistence that he could have negotiated at least two million dollars adds to the lawyer’s appeal.
  • The boat scene is praised, including Gage’s assurance that nothing will happen without Diana choosing it; it is called one of the film’s last good scenes.
  • The argument about whether the sex was good gives Diana an effective explanation that neither praise nor denial can satisfy her husband.
  • Her affirmative answer is disputed as unnecessarily hurtful; suggested reassuring lies draw the objection that he would not believe them.
  • Redford’s speech about the woman on the train is nominated, with Moore appearing genuinely moved by his performance.
  • The supposedly relatable missed-connection story is mocked for justifying a billionaire’s extravagant pursuit of another man’s wife.
  • The million-dollar-club revelation is praised for Shackleford’s visible effort to support Gage’s improvised story without exposing it.
  • Sam Elliott is suggested as a cooler version of Shackleford who could appear more convincingly complicit.
  • Gage’s billiards offer is the agreed final most-rewatchable scene despite the pool continuity errors.

What’s Aged the Best?

Vegas desperation; Demi Moore; return home; forgiveness; title; David with the dog; Jeremy

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:39Read transcript
  • Going to Vegas as a desperate solution has aged well: unemployment, recession and failed home sales establish motivation, followed by the initial gambling high and collapse.
  • Demi Moore’s appearance and star presence are selected as having aged well.
  • Movie depictions of wealthy people’s parties are praised for their glamorous settings and guests, although the specific parties here draw a dissenting reaction.
  • Diana’s uneasy return after the night with Gage is effective, although David’s subsequent lipstick-smearing sexual behavior is described as gross and bizarre.
  • The line distinguishing forgiveness from forgetting is praised.
  • The title is selected as having aged well.
  • Giving David the dog after the separation creates sympathy for him when his other behavior makes him difficult to like.
  • Jeremy’s uncomfortable jokes function as an audience surrogate and provide an underrated contribution.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Kissing the dice; imagined sex on television screens

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:06Read transcript
  • Diana kissing the dice is nominated for most cinematic shot.
  • David imagining Gage and Diana having sex on every television screen is the other shot choice, striking for its hallucinatory intrusion from a seemingly different movie.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Flashback styling; billionaires; cash sex; gambling; suites; real estate; voiceover; spoiled separation

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:48Read transcript
  • The youthful flashback appearances have aged poorly: Woody’s wig and Moore’s conspicuous braces.
  • The relatively sympathetic billionaire is considered harder to accept today; Tony Stark counters the suggestion that Gage might be the last billionaire audiences rooted for, while Zuckerberg prompts qualification.
  • Sex on piles of dirty cash is selected as having aged poorly, especially the bills shoved between bodies and their crumpled condition afterward.
  • The mix of twenties, fifties and hundreds is implausible casino payment; chips or larger bills would make more sense.
  • Returning to roulette after an initial rapid loss is criticized as foolish gambling and implausible strategy.
  • The supposedly luxurious early-1990s Vegas suites now look ugly.
  • Readily available enormous oceanfront property in 1993 Santa Monica is challenged as implausible.
  • The Santa Monica land is estimated at at least five million dollars in 1993; the film needs an explanation for such valuable vacant property.
  • Gage’s house value is corrected from forty to thirty million dollars, sharpening the comparison with the couple’s implausibly attainable dream property.
  • A demolished prior house could explain availability, but the lush untouched-looking site does not communicate that history.
  • Both agree the property is far more exceptional and valuable than the film acknowledges.
  • The sporadic voiceover is criticized, especially its heavy use for the opening relationship history followed by a long absence.
  • Revealing the separation at the start removes suspense about whether the marriage survives.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Try Gage; add a murder

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:11Read transcript
  • One hot take advises Diana to try a relationship with Gage because David has failed her; the response prefers neither man and notes that she already does try Gage.
  • The other hot take says the movie needs a murder, with David attacking Gage or Shackleford killing David as possibilities.
  • A more developed alternative gives David a mysterious death or beating, leaving Diana unable to trust Gage even if he is innocent; combining this with no sex on the yacht would extend the destructive doubt.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

All formats; especially all-Black cast, reality show or prestige TV

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:10Read transcript
  • The premise is considered adaptable in every proposed format, with particular enthusiasm for an all-Black cast, a reality show or prestige television.
  • A television remake should improve the dream-house design, mocked as a grain silo above a dilapidated garage.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Wayne Jenkins

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:26Read transcript
  • Wayne Jenkins would improve the film; possibilities include Gage, Jeremy, an expanded Shackleford or a casino onlooker, with his negotiating more money and crabs imagined.