They Broke Every Rule
Desire. Infatuation. Obsession.

The title refers to the duration of the relationship between self-absorbed Wall Street shark Mickey Rourke and divorced art gallery owner Kim Basinger. Kim is looking for true love, while Mickey is searching for...gosh knows what. His notions of lovemaking include blindfolds, ice cubes, chocolate syrup, and rolling around on spent peanut shells. When the alotted 9 1/2 weeks are up, Kim has finally come to realize that Rourke has been using her. We could have told her that twenty minutes into the film. One of the definitive works in the Mickey Rourke ouevre, 9 1/2 Weeks is deliciously awful, and as such will probably endure as a Camp Classic for the next hundred years. The film is available in both R-rated and unrated versions; either way, it's a hoot. ~

9½ Weeks has a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews.[5]
The film was championed by some critics. Roger Ebert praised the film, giving it three and a half stars out of four, stating: "A lot of the success of 9½ Weeks is because Rourke and Basinger make the characters and their relationship convincing." He further elaborated by saying that their relationship was believable, and unlike many other characters in other erotic films at that time, the characters in this movie are much more real and human.[6]
Over time, some critics have warmed to the film and audiences gave it somewhat of a legacy thanks to its success in the rental market. It performed very well in Europe, particularly in Italy, France and also in Latin America. Its success in France was so strong that it played for five years at a Paris cinema, earning approximately $100 million.[7] In São Paulo, Brazil, it played for 76 weeks in the cult movie house Cine Belas Artes.