lazarillo Peter Coyote plays a famous writer of erotic literature who also teaches college classes on Nathaniel Hawthorne. He keeps having affairs with his nubile co-ed students, not because he's a letch, but because they keep throwing themselves at him like they were in heat. After a sex scandal, he moves to a new college where he is immediately pursued by the dean's daughter (the always enjoyable Fairuza Baulk). He also gets involved with a sexy female convict (Nastassja Kinski), who may or may not have killed the wife of her ex-lover (Udo Kier), after he inadvertently reads some letters she sends to the former resident of his new apartment. There is some ridiculous Rube Goldberg-type plotting involving a fellow professor/erstwhile computer hacker (Jeremy Piven) and the convict's sexy white-trash sister (Layla Roberts). Eventually, the female convict escapes and ends up hiding out in the professor's apartment.This movie is way more ambitious than your average "erotic thriller", but that doesn't mean it quite works. It begins promisingly with a naked co-ed sitting on the professor's desk reading erotic passages from his own novel to him. But after that there is pretty much no sex or nudity at all, a huge mistake for this kind of film. It's totally understandable that Nastassja Kinki may have grown weary of being sexually exploited. (She wasn't yet 40 at the time but had already been doing it for 25 years). But this probably wasn't the best role to take then. Still, Kinski is a talented actress and her entire appeal is not based on her getting naked. That's also never been the appeal of cult actress Fairuza Baulk. It's inexcusable though to cast a "Playboy Playmate"/"Baywatch" babe like Layla Roberts in a movie and have her keep her clothes on. Those girls were never known for their acting. (It's kind of like calling a plumber, paying him, and then telling him to forget about the clogged-up sink, you need help with your taxes).Of course, both the sister and the more interesting Piven character are completely superfluous to the plot to begin with, and Udo Kier is similarly wasted in a brief, throwaway role. That's the other main problem with the movie--it has way too many loose narrative strands. There is a potentially interesting subplot where the professor is pressured by the administration to give an undeserved grade to a spoiled, barely black female student for purely "PC" reasons, but they really should have either developed this subplot or dropped it altogether. And then there's a scene where they visit a former tenant (Pauly Shore) who now lives in a hothouse with a bunch of snakes. I'm sorry, but there is NEVER a good reason to put Pauly Shore in a movie (there's no such thing as NON-gratuitous Pauly Shore). This should have definitely met the editing-room floor. By this time, the movie has become absurdist black comedy, but you should probably realize a movie is absurdist, black comedy well before it's three-quarters of the way over.I can give this movie some points for creativity and ambition (and a pretty impressive cast), but it's definitely not a success overall.

jotix100 Dennis Burke, a college professor, and a Nathaniel Hawthorne scholar, has a fine eye for beautiful young students. He has written a novel that is well regarded, especially by his young women. As the story begins, one of the students in his class threatens to expose him to the faculty. Dennis must make a decision right away to solve his problem: he will accept a position at a California college.Things start looking good for Dennis, finally. The class he is teaching has a great number of students, mostly female, no doubt impressed by the novel he wrote than their interest in Hawthorne. Settling into his new apartment, Dennis notices there is a lot of correspondence for the previous tenant. Trying to find out his new address, gets him nowhere. Dennis makes a tactical and moral error when he reads one of the letters address for the man that lived there before him.The letters are from Lydia, who turns out to be a prisoner. Intrigued, Dennis reads all of the letters that are quite explicit. He finds out this Lydia is trailer park trash, but goes after her. She, in turn, will get him into all sorts of problems, for she claims she is innocent for a crime she did not commit. She wants to prove her innocence and for that she plans to use Dennis."Red Letters" appears to have suffered a case of 'direct-to-cable' fate. Bradley Battersby, the director also contributed to the screenplay he wrote with Tom Hughes. The creators borrowed from other films about the same subject. The viewer has an inkling where the whole thing is going and the logic of Lydia's escape and subsequent revenge is stretched to the limit. We have always liked Peter Coyote. He is a versatile actor who had done better before. Nastassja Kinski's Lydia is not one of her best roles.

Rodimus78 Has to be on of Peter Coyote's best acting jobs today. Of course Peter is most recognized from his charater in the epic film E.T. and of course, who can forget The Legend of Billy Jean. Peter portrays and alcoholic college professor(Dennis Burke) just released from a former College on the grounds of sexual harassment. Opening scene in this movie is one of a kind. At his new College, Dennis is befriended by a wanna be computer hacker, Thurston Clarque(Jeremy Piven), and not a bad portrayal of the computer hacker from Piven. As Dennis tries to adjust to his new living, he begins receiving letters from an unknown woman(Natassja Kinski), trying to reach the man that once lived in the apartment. Dennis begins making contact with this myterious woman, and only to find out that she is in a woman's correctional facility, for a brutal crime she claims she didn't do. If things couldn't get any more complicated for Dennis, his sexually frustrated student, Gretchen, played by flawlessly by (Fairuza Balk ) is now infatuated with him, probably because of the sexual art book he wrote in the past. Trying to deal with Gretchen and Lydia, Dennis' friend Thurston has some how hacked in the correctional facility to help Lydia escape. Reasons for this act are not clearly informed in the movie. now Lydia is out of jail and Thurston now in custody, puts Dennis in a world of lies, deciet, and murder. Other fellow cast members include Ernie Hudson who gives a great supporting actn and Udo Kier. Watch and enjoy.

Rockster-2 Caught this on DVD. Watched it mainly because I like most of the cast members -- Coyote, the luscious Kinski and Faruzia Balk, and Jeremy Piven (from THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW). Assumed from the cover it was going to be one of those late night cable erotic thrillers (and the delicious nudity contained within the opening scene seemed to confirm that), but it turned out to be much more.An interesting, twisty story, well shot and well directed, with across-the-board good performances from all involved. Even Pauly Shore (I suffered a chill of dread when he showed up late in the film) was okay. Coyote's dilemma escalates steadily throughout the film in a compelling fashion, so I was disappointed when the third act didn't pay things off in a way I found believable, or up to the level of the rest of the picture. Still, well worth giving a look. A real pleasant surprise.