This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Expected more

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I find the characters' unexamined selves fascinating, yet disturbing, as it begs the question, are we (who are introspective) the ubiquitous representation of society or are Claire and Elton (Katrin Cartlidge & Vincent D'Onofrio)? Their outer quietude, monotone speech and self-isolation seem to be a coping mechanism for both Claire and Elton as they struggle with foreign emotions, as if navigating a strange, new land. Sadly, the only human interaction that they seemed to be able to master was sex. All other communications and sentiments left them raw and dangerously unprotected to being hurt by outsiders. There are many instances in this film where Claire and Elton ask each other a question that goes completely ignored by the other. It's as if the question just goes away upon being ignored, much like their untapped emotions. I found it fascinating to interpret their silent "outbursts." Can you imagine trying to act without words, just letting your face do all the talking? It pulled on my heartstrings when Claire awkwardly tries to interact with other women, such as when she tells the startled woman at the newsstand, "I just buried my mother." Her other regretful attempt in connecting with another woman and her baby at the park was painful and somewhat creepy. Claire's fumbling attempts to connect with someone, who won't want her for sex, crash and burn at every turn. She repeatedly waits for someone, anyone, to "save" her. Her only perceived salvation is to hone in on men who will want her and hold her, desperately grasping to escape her pain, even if only briefly. After all her repeated failures with other humans, she seems to bleakly settle on having a baby to love her and never leave her.After the mugging, Elton's attempt to chivalrously reclaim Claire's honor by fighting her pimp (Colm Meaney) was another insight into Elton (or perhaps all men in general). After he loses the fight in one punch, he accepts a drink from the pimp while he recovers, dejectedly listening to Meaney pontificate. He then skulks off with Meaney chiding, "You're not a little boy anymore." The most powerful scene in the movie was the taxi-mugging scene, where the faceless, hooded passenger terrorizes Elton. Before the mugging, you can sense Elton's silent sense of impending doom as they travel more remotely into a bad neighborhood. I also love the rage he conveys when he refuses to be stiffed the cab fare, "Pay before you get out of the car!" D'Onofrio's range of emotion and expression before and during the mugging was astoundingly complex and emotive.

I saw this atrocious film recently on the Sundance channel and unfortunately didn't follow my first instinct, which was to turn it off after 10 minutes. Instead, I watched it through to the end. Big mistake; the boredom only intensifies.The film begins, as background while the credits are running, with silent views of modern glass and steel Manhattan high rises; although this lasts only a few minutes, it seems interminable. Shots of the high rises reappear throughout the film. I guess the director was trying to say something about the soullessness of modern urban alienation. This is the film's first cliche; Antonioni and other European directors were using the same images to say the same thing 35 years earlier. The next cliche, which I'm sure the director intended to be revelatory, is that hookers lie to their johns, tell them they're special, etc., because it's good business. The last film I remember doing this is Klute in 1971. Oh yes, another original insight: pimps can be mean and vicious.With the exception of Vincent D'Onofrio, the acting is uniformly atrocious. Katrin Cartlidge has to be the most wooden, inexpressive actress in recent memory. She makes Clint Eastwood in his spaghetti westerns look expressive. Moreover, throughout the film her johns repeatedly refer to her as beautiful, when actually Cartlidge is quite plain. This appears to be a low budget film. Perhaps they couldn't afford a truly beautiful actress for the part. Equally likely, no self-respecting actress would touch such a dud. Colm Meaney was equally wooden, but then again he wasn't given a whole lot to do. Vincent D'Onofrio at least brought some life to his character. One redeeming feature: if you're a dirty old man like me, at least the tedium is punctuated by frequent glimpses of Cartlidge's rather lovely breasts.All in all, one to miss. 4/10

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)For those of you who have seen this and are looking for a message, I can say that the brutal facts of life, that is to say, an animal existence, will out. Whether we are talking about sexual desire and sexual release, or about reproduction--especially that--it is the fundamental animal drives that control our lives and dictate our actions.This movie offers nothing beyond that, and it shouldn't. It is perfect as it is. There is no phony sentimentality to entice us to delusion, or any sort of Hollywood ending. There is no redemption here. There is no spirituality. There is only desire and fulfillment; desire and frustration; desire and the end of desire which comes with... The movie doesn't say.I don't know if this makes my top ten of the nineties--I have seen a lot of movies--but it makes my most memorable. I will not forget this stark performance by Katrin Cartlidge, who plays Claire Dolan. She does not have the charisma of a great actress, and the range of what is required here is limited, but within that range she is stunning. A good part of the credit surely goes to director Lodge Kerrigan, who emphasizes the tight, washed out lines of desperation on her face, along with her intense sexual desire and the stark, rapacious environment of the urban jungle in which she plies her trade. This is a movie that might well be viewed following Pretty Woman (1990). I wonder how many people who allowed themselves to identify with Julia Roberts as a whore, would like to identify with the high class prostitute of this film. Could they even watch it?I was mesmerized by the sharp cuts and the film verité editing, the effective use of line and shadow, sound and silence, the clean, focused camera work. Our modern cities in all their indifference--the hard concrete and steel, the harsh lighting and intrusive sounds--are captured brilliantly. The script, cut lean and without comment, surprises us by turns, and keeps us on the edge of our seat throughout. The sex scenes are raw, intense and numerous. This is not a film for the kiddies. And that is an understatement.Vincent D'Onofrio, who is an actor of suburb balance, plays the cabby who loves women, especially perhaps those in great need of his love, and he plays his part with subtlety and control. Colm Meaney plays the psychopathic pimp, a brutal man without conscience who uses force when necessary and a kind of cheap charm when it isn't. He has the type of the animal trainer, who plies the whip and the carrot, which he uses on women. Note well how Kerrigan has ironically emphasized this despicable man's ability to reproduce himself, making him the father of four children.If I could sum up the life that Claire Dolan leads, I would say she lives among the wolves with a burden...her sexuality. She has a flat affect, strangely bereft of normal human expression. She is a kind of woman seldom seen on the silver scene, presented without an ounce of sentimentality. She feels life most strongly through sexuality, and only smiles at the result of sexual behavior, children. There is something profound in the realization that she is only really freed from her almost maniacal desire when she is with child. Meaney's character says he has known her since she was twelve and she has always been and always will be a whore. She will die a whore, he says. If true--and again, the movie lets us decide for ourselves--the question is, how did she become that way? The implication is that she was led or forced into prostitution at twelve. That is why she cannot feel about sex the way others feel, and that is why she finds it so difficult to feel affection for others. Hers has been an animal existence. She is always on her guard, and she shies away from a world that seems always about to hurt her brutally.

I've seen Claire Dolan in Paris in the theatre. It is a very brutal film, but also very powerful. I think that the director is talented, although the ending left me wanting a bit more. It's a very honest film about prostitution, and sometimes chillingly real. I was disturbed by the violence. It is very well done, with great, believable actors.