“Who’s to say that love needs to be soft and gentle?” – Dr. Twardon
Number of Times Seen – 1 (8 Dec 2021)
Brief Synopsis – A woman with a disorder that makes her constantly want to hurt herself tries to live a normal life by getting a job as a secretary for a lawyer, but while there, she is taught by her new boss about new ways of pleasure.
My Take on it – Really strange film that is accentuated by great performances by Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader.
The characters aren’t developed well enough for the viewer to find any of them likable, but the way that things progress show how each of them is trying to find a way to redeem themselves from some kind of problem from their past.
The story is filled with numerous situations where it is a bit unclear as to the reasoning behind the characters actions and the way that they take certain parts of the story to extremes is a bit too much.
The film doesn’t really find its bearing the whole way through and despite the powerful performances by both Spader and Gyllenhaal, the story fails to resonate well enough.
The sub-plots aren’t as interesting as the main plot and they all seem slightly tacked on along the way.
As I said tho, the main plot is far too quirky for its own good and never lets the viewer find a way to care about these characters or about what will happen to any of them as things move forward.
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The park sequences were shot without permits. The crew got permits for the wrong park and didn’t realize it until the day they arrived. (From IMDB)
Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)
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