Another example of the “__ from Hell” cycle that proliferated in early nineties Hollywood. So numerous were these pics (which included FATAL ATTRACTION, PACIFIC HEIGHTS, UNLAWFUL ENTRY, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE and CONSENTING ADULTS) that THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, which appeared in 1992, felt a little derivative (with 1990’s THE GUARDIAN, adapted from THE NANNY by Dan Greenburg, having already utilized its core concept). It was, however, one of the more financially lucrative examples of its subgenre, and one of the major movies directed by Curtis Hanson (1945-2016).
A former associate of the late Samuel Fuller (and co-writer of the maestro’s WHITE DOG), Hanson in 1992 was, following suspensors like THE BEDROOM WINDOW (1986) and BAD INFLUENCE (1990), positioned as a modern-day Hitchcock. In THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE Hanson did his best to live up to that title.
Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) is a stay-at-home mom whose husband Michael (Matt McCoy) is a successful businessman, allowing them to live in a swanky Seattle neighborhood. While pregnant with her second child Claire visits Dr. Mott (John de Lancie), who behaves inappropriately during a gynecological exam that leaves her feeling violated (a scene that has an entirely different resonance now than it did in ‘92, as the following year Sciorra was allegedly raped by Harvey Weinstein). She complains to the state medical board, setting off a litany of accusations from other women the doctor victimized. This leads to him committing suicide and devastating his pregnant wife Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay), who suffers a miscarriage.
Months later Claire hires a nanny to look after her six year old daughter Emma (Madeline Zima) and infant son. She chooses Peyton, who’s posing as a nanny in order to get revenge. In this guise Peyton finds subtle ways to undermine Claire, breast feeding her baby and seducing Michael.
Peyton also gets Solomon (Ernie Hudson), a mentally impaired fence builder employed by the Bartels, fired from his job by causing him to be falsely accused of molesting Emma, and setting up a greenhouse accident that offs Michael’s former flame Marlene (Julianne Moore) when she grows suspicious of Peyton. As anyone familiar with nineties cinema well knows, Peyton is set to get her comeuppance in a spectacular death scene.
The screenplay by Amanda Silver (JURASSIC WORLD) appears to have been constructed around feminine anxieties: sexual violation, misplaced trust and jealousy (with co-stars Rebecca De Mornay and Julianne Moore glammed up considerably, while Anabella Sciorra in the lead role is made to look as unglamorous as possible). Curtis Hanson tried to corner the chick flick market a decade later with IN HER SHOES (2005), having apparently forgotten he’d already done so in THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE.
It’s expertly lensed by Robert Elswit (Paul Thomas Anderson’s cinematographer of choice), and directed with enormous skill and economy. The film does, however, contain what James Ellroy (whose novel L.A. CONFIDENTIAL provided the source material for Hanson’s most famous film) termed the “Curtis Hanson disjuncture.”
Hanson had a weakness for the formulaic, and that weakness is on full display in THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, which in terms of scripting and filmmaking shamelessly replicates the “___ from Hell” template set by FATAL ATTRACTION. That replication extends to the overwrought performances, with Annabella Sciorra being overly perky (she smiles constantly) and Rebecca De Mornay far too sinister (with a perpetual dead-eyed stare that really should have tipped the protagonists off about her true nature).
Another problem (one common to Hanson films) is the unsatisfying ending. That coda is also quite predictable, with the unjustly persecuted Solomon performing a wholly expected last minute Heroic Act that redeems him in the eyes of everyone. Left unexplained is why that “redemption” was even necessary, as I say he’d have been better off leaving them all behind.
Vital Statistics
THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE
Hollywood Pictures
Director: Curtis Hanson
Producer: David Madden
Screenplay: Amanda Silver
Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Editing: John F. Link
Cast: Anabella Sciorra, Rebecca De Mornay, Matt McCoy, Ernie Hudson, Julianne Moore, Madeline Zima, John de Lancie, Kevin Skousen, Mitchell Laurence, Justin Zaremby, Eric Melander, Jennifer Melander, Ashley Melander, Cliff Lenz, Penny LeGate, Mary Anne Owen, Therese Xavier Tinling