In Los Angeles, Detective Lottie Mason (Theresa Russell) works undercover as a whore on the streets or a junkie with the vice-squad leaded by the corrupt Lt. Joe Morgan giving support and arresting clients and drug dealers. She is also having sessions with a police psychologist for evaluation because she killed a criminal. She also has troubled relationships and high debts with her credit card. When she works with the District Attorney Stan (Jeff Fahey),they feel attracted for each other and have an affair. After an assignment where she was almost killed, she has a flat tire while driving home. She goes to a bar to kill time while her car is fixed. Completely upset, she meets the charming criminal Tony Perón (Shawn Elliott) that Stan is chasing, but unknown for her, and he offers a huge amount for her to go to his place. While in his fancy house, she regrets and tries to find a meas of escape. But she witnesses the execution of Tony, and she anonymously calls the police. In the house, she finds a key of a locker where there is a bag with one million dollars that Tony stole from drug dealers. While the police search the unknown woman, Lottie lives a dilemma about what to do with the money.

I have just watched "Impulse" at least five times so far, and in my opinion it is one of the best thrillers of the 90's. The good story has a great direction of Sondra Locke, the characters are very well developed, and Theresa Russell is amazingly beautiful and sexy and has one of her best performances. The ambivalent conclusion is perfect, and the viewer can only guess the destination of the money. Unfortunately this movie is totally underrated in IMDb, misguiding the readers. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Tentação Perigosa" ("Dangerous Temptation")

A female undercover cop, overworked, exhausted and ready for a break, gets seduced one night into a short walk on the wild side, but it may prove to be her undoing. Well-directed cop thriller isn't a blockbuster, nor is it capable of really expanding its perimeters on the basis of a slight budget, but filmmaker Sondra Locke gets fine performances from her cast, particularly Theresa Russell, exuding palpable street-glamor in the lead, and handsome George Dzundza as her lieutenant. I have never been an admirer of creepy-eyed Jeff Fahey's work (he always seems hyped up for little purpose),but he isn't too distracting here. Little-seen picture is perfect late-night TV fodder; nothing overly substantial or imaginative, but tightly-wound and involving. **1/2 from ****

"Lottie Mason" (Theresa Russell) is a vice cop who works during the night as an undercover prostitute. Her boss, "Lt. Joe Morgan" (George Dzundza) is corrupt and makes life as tough as possible for her because she won't sleep with him. Meanwhile, the Assistant District Attorney, "Stan" (Jeff Fahey) is trying to make a case against a dangerous drug dealer named "Tony Peron" (Shawn Elliott) and needs an attractive undercover agent to entice a witness to testify against him. Naturally, Lottie agrees to do the job. Now, rather than revealing the entire plot I will just say that things begin to go haywire soon afterward. As far as the overall film is concerned I thought Theresa Russell looked absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, I felt that the relationship between her and "Stan" lacked chemistry. Along with that, I also thought that the first half of the film was much too slow developing and didn't really start to pick up any steam until the final 30 minutes or so. In short, it wasn't a bad movie but given the talent available it certainly could have been better. I give it an average rating.