Attraction proves problematic if not fatal in “Pretty Thing.” Those who’ve missed the steaminess of the peak “erotic thriller” era as defined by “9 1/2 Weeks,” “Basic Instinct” and so forth may find some nostalgic pleasure in this slick if more modest enterprise, with Alicia Silverstone as a middle-aged businesswoman who picks up sexy younger Karl Glusman, only to find she’s acquired an obsessive stalker.
Director Justin Kelly (“I Am Michael,” “JT Leroy”) and actor-turned-writer Jack Donnelly do a decent job setting things up, soft-pedaling narrative clichés and delivering medium-grade, relatively un-corny sexiness in a handsome widescreen production. But the suspense mechanics never develop much momentum and despite solid
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