The Crush Movie

North American film poster for The Crush
Directed by Alan Shapiro
Produced by James G. Robinson
Gary Barber
Written by Alan Shapiro
Starring Alicia Silverstone
Cary Elwes
Kurtwood Smith
Music by Graeme Revell
Cinematography Bruce Surtees
Editing by Ian Crafford
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) April 2, 1993
Running time 89 mins.
Language English
IMDb profile
Ratings
Argentina: 16
Australia: M
Canada (BC/SK): 14A
Canada (Home Video)): R
Chile: 14
Finland: 15
Germany: 16
Iceland: 12
Singapore: PG
Spain: 18
Sweden: 15
United Kingdom: 15
United States: R


The Crush (1993) is an American thriller, directed and written by Alan Shapiro, filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was the debut film for Alicia Silverstone.


Plot summary

Nick Eliot (Elwes), a journalist, moves into a new neighborhood where the young Adrian Forrester (Silverstone) lives. She is fourteen years old, half his age. She becomes very interested in him, but he rejects her advances, especially since she is so young. Her parents don't realize she is a femme fatale lolita. She then sets out to destroy his life—and him.

Tagline: He thought it was just a crush. He was dead wrong.


Plot synopsis

Arriving in a new city, writer Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes) secures a job at Pique magazine and lodgings in a guest house belonging to Cliff and Liv Forrester (Kurtwood Smith and Gwynyth Walsh). The handsome Nick soon makes the acquaintance of the Forrester's 14-year-old daughter Adrian (Alicia Silverstone), a precocious girl who develops an intense attraction to him. She secretly helps Nick by sneaking into his room and rewriting one of his Pique stories, which subsequently wins a rave from his editor/boss Michael (Matthew Walker). At a party thrown by the Forresters, Nick agrees to accompany the lonely girl on a drive to a romantic spot, where he lets his guard down and kisses her.

This intensifies Adrian's crush on Nick, but he quickly wises up and attempts to put her off, having begun a budding romance with co-worker Amy (Jennifer Rubin). Adrian continues to boldly pursue him, even going so far as to undress in his view. Nick, however, continues to rebuff her advances, and Adrian's actions become destructive--she defaces a car he's restored and erases his computer discs--yet he's unable to convince Cliff and Liv of what's going on. Cheyenne (Amber Benson), a friend of Adrian who has warned Nick about her, meets with an "accident" at the riding school they attend together. Then, after Adrian spies on Amy in bed with Nick, the girl locks Amy in her darkroom and empties a hornets' nest into the vents.

Amy survives, and Nick, now convinced that Adrian is big trouble, attempts to find new lodgings. However, Adrian manages to sabotage his efforts. She then accuses him of assaulting her, leading to his arrest. After Michael bails him out (and fires him), Nick is met once again by Cheyenne, who informs him of a diary Adrian kept that can acquit him. When he goes looking for it, he discovers Cheyenne tied up in the attic and is confronted by Adrian and then Cliff, who attacks him. Adrian, still infatuated, attacks her father, leaving Nick free to subdue her with one punch. Acquitted, Nick goes to live with Amy while Adrian, confined to a psychiatric ward, continues to write him letters, even as she's developing a crush on her doctor.




Cast
Cary Elwes as Nicholas "Nick" Eliot
Alicia Silverstone as Adrian Forrester (originally Darian Forrester)
Jennifer Rubin as Amy Maddik
Kurtwood Smith as Cliff Forrester
Gwynyth Walsh as Liv Forrester
Amber Benson as Cheyenne
Matthew Walker as Michael
Duncan Fraser as Detective


Name change: Darian to Adrian
Though the film was allegedly loosely based on Writer/Director Alan Shapiro's experience involving a girl named Darian, the film's end credits state that the "Story, events, and characters depicted are fictitious, no identification with or similarity to actual persons or to actual events is intended or should be inferred."
Alicia Silverstone's character was originally named Darian. As a result of a lawsuit brought by the real Darian's family, the character was renamed to Adrian and the movie dubbed to reflect the change. Shapiro hated the change and had no say in it nor had any input into its implementation.
The original actors did not dub their own voices for the Adrian name change. The cast admitted that the dubbing was done by unknown actors, hence the slight difference with the voices. At times, some dialogue phrases preceding the name Adrian were also dubbed for a more unnoticeable voice transition.
When the film was released in theaters in 1993, audiences got to hear the name Darian. The name Darian also remained on VHS and laserdisc editions. The DVD release contains the dub.


Trivia
The final confrontation on an amusement park carousel was inspired by the Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train.
All of Alicia Silverstone's nude scenes were done by a body double. Silverstone strictly refused to do nudity for this film and also had a no-nudity clause in her contract.
Alicia Silverstone became legally emancipated at age 15 to work the hours for this film and avoid child labor laws. She turned 16 while working on the set.
Music video director Marty Callner was searching for an actress to star in his upcoming Aerosmith music video when a friend suggested that he watch The Crush, which was currently playing in theatres at the time. He did, and he casted Alicia Silverstone in not one but three of the highly popular Aerosmith videos of the early 1990s known as the Cryamazy trilogy, entitled "Cryin'," "Crazy," and "Amazing".
The theatrical release and early VHS releases of the film call Alicia Silverstone's character Darian. It was changed in the mid-90's after a law suit by the actual Darian, on whom the screenwriter based the character and the screenplay


You can find more info on "The Crush" at imdb