The Crush (1993 film)

Writer Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes) secures a job at Pique magazine and lodging 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 review from his editor/boss, Michael (Matthew Walker) at a party thrown by the Forresters. Nick agrees to accompany the lonely girl on a nighttime drive to a romantic spot, where she kisses him.

This intensifies Adrian's crush on Nick, but he quickly wises up and attempts to put her off, having begun a budding romance with coworker Amy (Jennifer Rubin). Adrian continues to boldly pursue him, even going so far as to undress in his view while he is hiding in her closet. When Nick continues to rebuff her advances, Adrian's actions become destructive; she defaces a car he's restored and erases his computer discs, yet he's unable to convince her parents of her guilt. Cheyenne (Amber Benson), a friend of Adrian's who tries to warn Nick about her, meets with an "accident" at the riding school they attend together. After Adrian spies on Nick in bed with Amy, she locks Amy in her darkroom and empties a wasps' nest into the vents, knowing of Amy's spheksophobia. Amy survives, and Nick, now convinced that Adrian is big trouble, attempts to find new lodging. However, Adrian accuses him of sexually assaulting her with "evidence" obtained from a used condom from Nick's trash, leading to him being arrested by the police. After Michael bails him out (and suspends him until trial), Cheyenne informs Nick that she knows he is innocent and that Adrian has a history of obsessive behavior, citing a camp counselor named Rick who "accidentally" died by eating something poisonous. Cheyenne also informs Nick of a diary Adrian kept that can exonerate him.

After Cheyenne departs, Nick hears strange noises coming from the Forrester's house. He investigates and finds Cheyenne bound and gagged in the attic on the carousel. Adrian confronts and attacks him, leading Cliff to attack Nick in turn, mistaking him as the aggressor. Adrian then knocks Cliff unconscious, leaving Nick free to subdue her with one punch. Acquitted, Nick goes to live with Amy while Adrian is confined to a psychiatric hospital. Though she laments that Nick refuses to speak to her or accept her apologies, her doctor comments that she is making good progress, unaware that she is developing a crush on him now.

Ultimately, Adrian returns to her room in the psychiatric hospital, where she looks at her doctor's wedding photo with an evil glare.

• Cary Elwes as Nicholas "Nick" Eliot
• Alicia Silverstone as Adrian/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

The Crush was released on VHS in 1993 and reissued in 1995 for rental and sell-through. On August 1, 2000, the film was released on DVD. On June 21, 2016, Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray under their Scream Factory label after Warner Bros. failed to release the film on DVD and Blu-ray formats in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2014. A bonus clip includes interviews with Jennifer Rubin and Kurtwood Smith.

Writer and director Alan Shapiro based the film on events from his own life. The girl on whom he based Adrian sued him for using her real name, Darien, for Alicia Silverstone's character. As a result, when the film was re-edited for TV, the character's name was changed from Darian to Adrian. Silverstone is still credited as having played Darian Forrester on IMDB.[2] The VHS and laser disc releases retained the original spoken dialogue that called the character Darian.[3] The original theatrical trailer also refers to the character as Darian.[4]

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 25% rating from critics based on 28 reviews.[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[6]

• The Crush at IMDb
• The Crush at the TCM Movie Database
• The Crush at Box Office Mojo