the word to describe sharon stone is " wonder " . not that she _is_ a wonder , but rather that i wonder how she can be so inconsistent . she has a dynamic screen presence in " basic instinct " , turns in a surprisingly fine acting job in " casino " , but possesses neither of those here . stone teams up with private school headmaster's wife isabelle adjani to kill adjani's thoroughly unlikable husband ( chazz palminteri ) . in a comedy of errors and unexpected twists straight out of hitchcock ( as in `homage to' [read " steal from " ] ) , it turns out that someone saw them or he's not dead or maybe . . . kathy bates turns in a credible , if unspectacular , performance as an investigative police detective . her character is a bit dull but realistic , although her actions at the end are puzzling . adjani is more than satisfactory as the timid beaten spouse driven to desperation . it's stone that is a disappointment among the actors . how can she be the epitome of a femme fatale in previous films and come off as a blank in this one ? costumed in skin-tight clothes and looking down her nose at everyone , she is someone you would want to avoid because she is boring , not enticingly dangerous . even the threat ( or promise ? ) of a lesbian relationship between the conspirators is only half played out . on the positive side , there are enough unexpected plot developments to keep your interest alive . that is if you can put up with stone's cardboard cut-out character and scenes directly lifted from hitch's movies .
