Bullet Points: Model by Day
Models have always had a favorable stature in society. While you may debate whether it is beneficial to place unrealistic body types on such a pedestal when so many struggle with body issues, you can’t deny that the late 80s and early 90s saw the rise of the supermodel. Supermodels were all over from print, to television to restaurants and of course movies. But could a supermodel be a superhero? That is what the 1994 action movie Model by Day tries to answer. To make things even easier, I happen to have some Bullet Points so we can get to the bottom of the question together.
- Car Model – Lex (Famke Janssen, X-Men) is a famous strong willed model who doesn’t like to be told what to do. Model by Day opens up with Lex on a shoot and on the phone with her roommate Jae (Traci Lind, Class of 1999). Jae borrows Lex’s car and summarily gets carjacked and ends up in the hospital and Lex ends up on the next flight home. Before her trip home, we learn Lex can take care of herself when some unruly Germans attempt to interrupt her photo shoot. Lex has been practicing martial arts with her wheelchair bound trainer Master Chang (Clark Johnson, Homicide: Life on the Street).
- Print Model – The cops are so busy they don’t have much motivation to help in Jae’s case. Lex personally visits the station to get Lt. Eddie Walker (Stephen Shellen, Damned River) to help but there is only so much he can do. When Lex does a runway show where all the models wear masks (a runway show with a boxing theme!) Lex gets an idea. She gets a costume, a costume without a mask surprisingly, just a helmet/cowl and some sunglasses, and not much else for protection. Lex easily takes down the carjackers, but the press manages to get a pic of the mysterious vigilante and dub her Lady X due to the straps on the back of her top. Lex is not a fan of the Lady X moniker and quickly changes her top, but the name sticks because of a copycat Lady X.
- Fashion Model – The highlight of Lady X is a fantastic montage that shows her fighting crime with the cops one step behind. That is until scumbag club owner Tommy Nolan (Kim Coates, Officer Downe) gets murdered along with some other no good characters and Lady X is the number one suspect for the murder and Lex as the number one suspect for Lady X. Not that it is a bad thing for Model by Day because the movie decides to lean heavily on a Basic Instinct homage when Lex gets interrogated. If you ever wanted to see Famke Janssen’s character correctly guess what kind of underwear three cops are wearing than Model by Day is for you. To make things more complicated, Tommy was in with the Russian mob and they order Johnny (Von Flores) to take out the person responsible for Tommy’s death.
- Runway Model – As a surprise to know one, the copycat Lady X is behind the murderers, but the surprise is who is behind the lace mask of the copycat. Lex has Lt. Walker on her side, but not before a solid car chase, even though Walker had no chance of catching Lex in her Acura NSX with his lime green 1973 Delta 88. Lex eventually even gets Johnny on her side after he realizes she isn’t the one who murdered Johnny and the Russian mob is not on his side. The two surprisingly get along even after they realize Johnny is an Asian who eschews martial arts for guns and Lex is a fashion model who prefers martial arts. Their dichotomy plays out perfectly in a fun dim sum fight. All the action pales in comparison to the final fight between the real and copycat Lady X on a rooftop, but who is the copycat Lady X?
Model by Day shows that a supermodel can easily be a superhero… in a movie. You have to know what you are getting into when watching a movie like Model by Day and that means don’t expect the best acting or action but it doesn’t matter because it is a fun movie and Famke Janssen carries the entire show. The main drawback is the weak villains. We do have the Russian mob, but all they did is run a chop shop. I guess they did injure poor Jae, but I’m not upset because that gave the world pirate Traci Lind. The real villain ends up being the copycat Lady X, but the movie doesn’t spend enough time for me to be invested in her story. Model by Day is still a movie I enjoy to watch and I want these Bullet Points to be a model for all others by ending with some Bonus Bullet Points.
- Does Anyone Else Miss Joe Camel? – I was very impressed with Famke Janssens acting around the camel. I try to avoid those beasts at all costs.
- Modeled – Model by Day is based off the comic of the same name written by Kevin J. Taylor and gives off a more serious Black Scorpion vibe, another female based comic-cum-action movie.
- Familiar Faces – I was glad to see Sean Young (No Way Out) as Mercedes, the head of Lex’s modeling agency and Shannon Tweed (Steele Justice) as Shannon, a self-defense instructor. Wait, they wouldn’t have Shannon Tweed just cameo as a self-defense instructor, would they? Maybe this should be a regular Bullet Point.
