Sweet Revenge

On the verge of jumping off a London bridge, a depressed businessman (Sam Neill) answers the cries of another intended suicide (Helena Bonham Carter) who has failed in her attempt. Having saved each other, the two become fast friends, eventually agreeing to take revenge on the people who are the cause of their problems in a switcheroo along the lines of Strangers on a Train. Trading Hitchcock's dry, dark wit in favor of more outrageous black humor--fatally withholding an asthmatic's inhaler, for instance--Malcolm Mowbray's adaptation, based on plays by Alan Ayckbourn, is not without its occasional laughs, but one suspects this worked much better on stage. Definitely optional. (T. Rich)