In The Nick

By RICHARD SCHICKEL

BAD INFLUENCE

Directed by Curtis Hanson

Screenplay by David Koepp

Last year James Spader made his first large claim on public approval with his portrayal of a delicately nuanced weirdo in sex, lies, and videotape. Around the same time, sometime brat-packer Rob Lowe made his first large claim on public opprobrium when it was revealed that he had staged a somewhat less formal drama -- more of an improv, really -- involving sex, lies and videotape in an Atlanta hotel room during the 1988 Democratic Convention. Now the two young actors are co-starring in something called Bad Influence, and guess what familiar items feature in its plot?

Not that Bad Influence is an el cheapo exploitation film. It is more an el grande one. That is, it was in the works before either Lowe or Spader achieved his new level of notoriety, so its makers cannot be accused of cashing in on the former's troubles or the latter's triumph. It is, moreover, good looking in a chic, languid sort of way, and it is written with occasional wit and social awareness. Indeed, its literary credentials are, if anything, rather too impeccable: Spader's character, Michael, an analyst in an investment firm, is Faust at a computer terminal; Lowe's Alex, a sociopath of no fixed address, is Satan with a swell wardrobe and access to clubs where the action is not quite so hellish as director Hanson would like us to think.

The big thing Alex teaches Michael is that life, unlike computers, is a nonbinary system, offering more than two possibilities for, say, getting a stalled career moving or dumping out of a too carefully programmed engagement to a dull girl. Spader, an awfully good actor, accomplishes the rare trick of making the good weak guy seem more interesting than the strong bad guy. In fairness to Lowe, however, he is not given much to do but lurk in the shadows and look menacing as he stakes his claim on a bedazzled soul. Alas, Bad Influence never persuasively explains why cautious Michael would let an obviously devious character like Alex so far into his life so quickly without checking his references. It is too busy putting on airs to deal with such practical matters. How one yearns, sometimes, for the subliterary bustle and forthright cheesiness of an old-fashioned B picture.