In
The Splatterist, with Sly
Stallione, Sharon played a woman seeking redress for wrongs done her
family by gangster James Woody. Although it was one of her first parts
after Instink, she resisted the temptation to do a reprise
of the icy manipulator role that made her famous and took a wide open approach
to manifesting the emotions of a more vulnerable character. The scene in
which Sharon reveals to Sly the depth of her feelings—"I
burn for revenge"—is a moving demonstration of her
acting potential.
Although
critics had a field day with Sharon's performance in the thriller Shiver,
most of the criticism can be traced to the role's requirement for a bathtub
masturbation scene. She did the scene, reluctantly to be sure, because
the plot depended on establishing the extent to which villain Gummo Baldwin
had invaded her life. Those who were not so fixated on the lurid, however,
would have written their reviews differently if they had noticed the scene
in which Sharon realizes at last that she is being watched. Suddenly, her
usual confidence and openness are gone, and she seems to fold herself closed
like a flower blossom shrinking from too harsh a sun. And there, at the
very heart of her deepest vulnerability is born that small hard diamond
of darkness which will lead to the film's startling turnabout. It is a
mesmerizing tour de force of acting.
So
impressive was Sharon's development that ace director Martin Socrasi decided
to cast her in the challenging role of Robert DeZiro's wife for the critically
acclaimed gangster epic Lost Vegas. Her character in this
film is perpetually torn between her desire for security and her desire
for Slimy, the parasitic lowlife boyfriend she can't discard. The climactic
moment of her performance occurs in the scene where she finally tells DeZiro,
"I need Slimy. Can't you understand that, you ____ing mother- ____er?
I need him bad." There's this oh-so-subtle twitch accompanying the lines
that really drives the point home. A bravura performance by an actress
who is beginning to come into her own.
Though
not yet released to theaters, Sharon's latest role does much to confirm
the giant steps she has taken as an actress. For in If These Walls
Had Tongues 2, she casts off her longstanding image as a siren
to play a Lesbian. Ironic that her most touching and feminine performance
should be catalyzed by such a reversal. Ironic but also logical.
The attainment of stature as an actor is accomplished only by those who
stretch their gifts and spread their wings in unfamiliar skies. If the
few brief glimpses we've been given of Sharon's performance in Tongues
are indicative, we are about to experience a new softness in Sharon, an
intimate sharing of a heart of gold which has too often been presented
as a cold mound of stone. Vive la difference.
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