An Exercise In Nonsense

A Brilliant Conflict

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I think every man should see this movie! NO LIE, it changed me profoundly forever. It's a fact, men fantasize about rape. Well if you watch this captivating and shocking film, and still wonder about actualizing your fantasy you should seek professional help. It's okay to fantasize, but given the numbers on rape, this movie might actually prevent some. I can't say strongly enough how much I recommend it. There is no real shame in enjoying the sex scenes, their is shame in considering or ever having raped a woman. I guess an immoral person, probably wouldn't get the message either way, but for the moral, you understand why it's such a hideous crime. I've dated past victims, and they are forever changed, FOREVER! Pardon my rant...

It was such a painful movie, I don't know how to describe it. All I can say is that it was so well done that I was almost forced to watch it. I couldn't bring myself to change the channel. It was well written, well acted and well directed. Kim Dickens and Gabriel Mann did an astounding job portraying the victims. I could feel Sherri's pain like it was my own and I felt pain for Owen, as well. The only thing I felt could have been done differently is that Owen was just as much a victim as Sherri was. He was just a child at the time of the rape. How can he have been held responsible for something he didn't want any part of and was forced into by his sociopathic brother? He suffered for it, too. I understand why Sherri had trouble dealing with him up to a point but it seems that everyone involved forgot that he had been a defenseless child, too. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who's ever been a victim or knows a victim.

This film knocked me for a loop. The acting is uniformly terrific and i believe it was filmed with digital cameras. There are two rape scenes that are to my mind the most realistic depictions i've ever seen. This is not rape as sex but rape as brutal violence. A few minutes in a childs life that stays with them for ever. The performances by Kim Dickens and Gabriel Mann as the adult rape victims are completely different yet both seem so true. I took this as a double rape even though one character was technically the rapist. I saw this movie on tv and at times you almost have to force yourself not to change channels. Watching the young Sherry walking away from the house after being raped, dragging her skate board, seems so real you feel like you are peeking through the curtains at someones real life pain. This is a very honest, painful movie and perhaps the best thing is the ending. No shinning light of salvation but a few glimmering shreds of hope for both the central characters. This one will stay with me for a long time.

as a big fan of allison anders' earlier films "gas, food lodging" and "mi vida loca", i was happy to see her go back to the same kind of personal story about the life struggles of vulnerable-yet-tough, everyday female heroines. this one is a bit more on the sad side though, as it deals with the destructive consequences that a gang-rape has on the life of a florida rock vocalist.if you've seen any of the other films by allison anders, you know she has a heart as big as all outdoors, and she knows how to pack a lot of emotion into her storytelling. this is also the case here, and aided tremendously by the amazing central performance from kim dickens. never having seen her act before, and seeing as anders has been known to cast musicians in her films, i thought she must be a real rocker from some band, making her acting debut. her performance is just so natural and convincing.sherry's story is real and sad. it seems pretty realistic, and i'm sure people who've gone through something similar in their lives would benefit from this film.i'd really hate to nitpick, but the film falls short of perfection. as is often the case when filmmakers deal with subjects of great personal importance to themselves, anders' film is overlong, and would benefit from a few judicious cuts.but never mind; this film has heart, and that's what counts. you might even have a good cry.