`Fair Game' showcases Crawford
I am a longtime fan of yours, from your earliest days with Revlon (I liked your singing in that commercial for Charlie) through your breakup with Richard Gere. I've seen almost every episode of "MTV's House of Style." So I was really excited when I heard you would be starring in your first film, Fair Game , with William ("I'm not Alec") Baldwin.
When the naysayers predicted you'd fall flat on your beauty mark, I stood up for you. When they called you names, I protested. You were your high school's valedictorian, I said. You were an engineering student before you turned to modeling, I said. There's no way she'll turn out to be just another Joel Silver movie bimbo. There's no way she'll be another Rae Dawn Chong.
I'm proud to say I was right.
Fair Game starts out really well, with some stunning cinematography of you jogging on the beach. And it was really exciting when that guy shot at you, but he missed. I could hardly wait to see what would happen next.
It turned out, of course, that this bad Russian guy was trying to kill you because you were trying to repossess his boat, or something like that. But that wasn't really important. You got to meet Billy ("Yet another") Baldwin, playing a tough cop with a sensitive side. I was totally unprepared for that.
And so the two of you go into hiding, trying to find the would-be assassin before he finds you. Unfortunately, things quickly go awry: Billy's cop buddies get whacked, they blow up your house, they blow up some cars, more buddies get whacked, more stuff gets blown up ... it was very upsetting. Why can't those bad guys just leave you alone?
Eventually, I'm not sure how, the two of you end up on the side of the road. Billy turns to you and says, "If you want to change your T-shirt, do it now." And you do.
Now, I understand this completely -- even a supermodel occasionally has to sweat when on the run from the KGB. But there are others who will insist that this is mere gratuitous nudity; that producer Joel Silver made you show us your breasts; as if it were in your contract or something!
And then, when you run away from Billy because you're afraid, and you jump on that train to get away from him, and he follows you, and you start punching him, and then you suddenly have sex; some people will say that's just stupid. I know, of course, that it's spontaneous encounters like these which are the most exciting.
I like the way the producers take advantage of your beauty and reputation without exploiting it. For instance, in the scene when you manipulate the computer nerd to get what you want by saying things like "hardware," "software" and "boot up my unit"; that is a great scene. And it's so funny!
I personally believe you are truly talented as an actress. I can't wait to see what you'll do next. I just hope that in the future your roles will be less meaty and more substantial.
Yours, Dan McDermon.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the November 10, 1995 issue.
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