Released 1996
Stars Jon Bon Jovi, Lambert Wilson, Anna Galiena, Thandie Newton, Barry Humphries, David Warner
Directed by John Duigan

"The Leading Man" begins as a backstage story about the London theater world, and then a little Hitchcockian intrigue edges into the frame. The movie's about "Britain's greatest living playwright," a bedeviled middle-aged man with a wife and a mistress, both angry with him. A Hollywood sex symbol, who is starring in his new play, offers to solve all his problems by seducing the wife.

This is a little like Hitchcock's setup in "Strangers on a Train," where an outsider sees a need and volunteers to meet it--at a price. The neat trick in "The Leading Man" is that we never quite understand the movie star's complete plan. Why is he doing this (apart from getting the husband's license to seduce the wife?). What else does he have in mind?

The movie star, Robin Grange, is played by the rock musician Jon Bon Jovi, who is convincing as a man who is completely confident of his ability to seduce any woman, anywhere, anytime.

Summary by Roger Ebert