The Vibrator Movie Without The Spark: Hysteria Is An Interesting “Watch Once” Film.

The Good: Fearless in its subject, Moments of humor, Generally good performances
The Bad: Moments of melodramatic performance, Very predictable romantic plot development.
The Basics: Hysteria is an informative historical romance piece that illustrates the invention of the vibrator, but does so with surprisingly little zest or intrigue.


Last month, when I finally had the pleasure to watch Like Crazy (reviewed here!), the real pleasure was witnessing the performance of Felicity Jones. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that she was in Hysteria, a film I intended to see last year! As it is, my wife and I have put off watching Hysteria so many times that I am certain that the library from which we borrowed the DVD (repeatedly) either thinks we are obsessed with the history of the vibrator or that I am some sort of right-wing nut who keeps the DVD out of circulation in order to prevent its liberal ideals from being viewed by others. As it so happens, we just have such a large stack of movies to watch and getting my wife in the mood to watch any movie is such a task that it took us about a month from when I first brought the DVD home until we found the time (last night) to actually give it our full attention.

Hysteria is a period piece, which is pretty normal for Hugh Dancy and Jonathan Pryce, who seems to be stuck in films of late where he is playing men of authority in the past (or fantasy versions of the past). This is, to the best of my knowledge, the only period piece I have seen Maggie Gyllenhaal in. It is, for certain, the only film I have ever seen regarding the invention of the electric vibrator. Entertaining with some actual historical realism, Hysteria is an intriguing film that is brought down more by its determination to provide a predictable romantic plotline than the liberties it might take with any of the history it portrays.

Opening in Westminister Hospital in London in 1880, Dr. Mortimer Granville finds himself unemployed and unemployable by the conservative medical establishment there. He stumbles into the parlor of Doctor Robert Dalrymple, a medical practitioner who is treating women for hysteria (any range of issues related to women who are irritable, sexually unsatisfied and/or unfocused as a result of sexual longings). Taken in for four pounds a week and room and board, Granville learns how to massage women to bring a release that treats their condition (essentially masturbating them with his fingers until they orgasm). After a short time, Dalrymple is so pleased with Granville that he suggests that the young man and his younger daughter, Emily, might one day marry and he could pass the practice on to them.

Granville, however, has two issues – though in good time he does ask Emily if she might be interested in the arrangement her father propositioned, despite her being a phrenologist – as he finds himself utterly confounded by Robert’s elder daughter, a social activist named Charlotte, and in great pain. As Dalrymple’s practice has expanded due to Granville’s presence, the young man spends so much time fingering women that his hand begins to seize and twist. The day he is unable to give a satisfactory performance to Mrs. Castellari, he returns to his best friend’s home where he discovers Edmund has invented a powered feather duster. The vibrations from the electrical device relax Mortimer’s hand and it is a short leap between that and the invention of the vibrator.

Hysteria muddies itself some with a romantic subplot that is one of the oddest combinations of utterly predictable and entirely unlikely. The chief romance is the somewhat arranged relationship between Emily Dalrymple and Mortimer. This relationship is forced, though the characters do seem to enjoy one another’s company. Unfortunately, the understated nature of it gives the performers little to do and Felicity Jones (Emily) and Mortimer (Hugh Dancy) exhibit no real on-screen chemistry. Conversely, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Charlotte) and Dancy, who are kept apart until the very last moments of the film seem to have great chemistry and potential for a relationship, but it is so underdeveloped in favor of the stiff, not-really-relationship of Emily and Mortimer.

The performances are generally good, though Felicity Jones, who wowed me in Like Crazy is relegated to a surprisingly boring supporting role as Emily. Similarly, Jonathan Pryce is sacrificed for the broader character arc that rules the movie and is focused on the character development of Mortimer. The acting, however, is largely competent, save the interview scene between Pryce and Dancy where the deliveries are so melodramatic as to be laughable.

Hysteria is now found on DVD with a commentary track, deleted scenes, a featurette on the making of the film and another on the development of the vibrator. These are decent bonus features that are entertaining, as well as informative. But they do nothing to improve the utterly mediocre source material.

For other works with Hugh Dancy, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Adam
Confessions Of A Shopaholic
Blood And Chocolate
Ella Enchanted

5/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

It Might Not Be The Best Film Ever, But Adam Deserves An Attentive Audience.

The Good: Funny, Charming, Good characters, Raises awareness to an important issue.
The Bad: Very difficult to get into, Elements that are predictable.
The Basics: Solidly entertaining and educational, Adam explores the life of a young man with Asperger's Syndrome in a heartwarming film.


Sometimes, the advantage of getting into preview screenings is that I can then do my best to steer audiences to a movie that deserves their attention so that it might not actually be the flop virtually everyone predicts it will be. Back in 2009, as the doors closed on Summer Blockbuster Season 2009 the major studios were releasing two inane horror films with the intent of unseating prior weekend's box office leaders, but probably did not crack the top five. The film no one was betting on was Adam.

Having seen Adam early, it is hard to say anything about the film other than "see this, it deserves to be seen." I went into the screening blind (not literally!) and it was only after my wife expressed some trepidation about accompanying me that I even found out that the movie was supposedly a comedy and was a little over an hour and a half long. When the movie was done, my wife and I looked at one another and she asked me, "would you see it again?" Unlike earlier films that summer that might have been better on the merits, like The Soloist (reviewed here!), or movies that were billed as comedies that we did not laugh at, like Observe And Report, Adam was both entertaining and educational AND pleasant enough with characters that were likable. I realized then that I would like to see the film again, despite its awkward beginning.

Adam Raki finds himself standing beside his father's grave after the funeral unsure what to do with his life, other than go home and take over the chores in the apartment the two shared that his father used to do. He continues to go through his days, much as he did before his father's death, eating the same meals and maintaining the apartment and going to work as an electronic engineer for a toy company in Manhattan. Soon after his father's death, a young teacher, Beth, moves into the apartment building and she tries to get to know Adam, despite his awkward tendencies.

After Adam presents Beth with a planetarium show in his apartment and he takes her out to see raccoons in Central Park, Beth becomes smitten and Adam confesses his awkwardness is the result of his Asperger's Syndrome. As Beth copes with her father being indicted for a white collar crime, Adam struggles with finding a new job as he is fired from Replay, Inc. and his father's friend Harlan insists he try to get a job so he can keep the apartment. Beth and Adam work to understand one another and Adam's condition forces Beth to look at the world in a very different way, especially as her father's legal problems mount and her foundation is rocked.

Adam is a wonderfully smart film on so many levels that it is hard not to begin with simply gushing about the movie. Writer and director Max Mayer paces the film in a way that requires some trust on the part of the viewer and those who bear it out are rewarded. Adam seems at its surface to be yet another "awkward man" story where the gimmick is a beautiful young woman falls for a man who is in some way inaccessible. Adam's condition - the Asperger's Syndrome - does not come out for quite some time, so the viewer has to deal with a character who is not quite right, but we're unsure why.

The nice thing about the movie is that Mayer is consistent in his presentation of Adam as a character. As a result, even after he admits he has Asperger's to Beth, he does not suddenly start acting more or less quirky. Instead, Mayer focuses on how Beth changes in her perceptions and treatment of the young man and this leads to some of the film's best lines. Asperger's, which is explained in a little medical lesson midway through the film (clumsily disguised as dialogue between Beth and her boss), has many autism-like symptoms, one of which is a strong literal take on language resulting in an exceptionally honest person. So, this actually leads to some comic gems in Adam, like when Beth tries to explain why her last relationship didn't work (saying things like "he was sleeping with other women while we were together" has a very different meaning when you read it completely literally!).

Adam is funny . . . when it is not being difficult to swallow. Like most films about people who live with states different from "neuro typical" personas (or those with mental illnesses - Asperger's is the former, not the latter!) the inability to relate is often difficult for audiences to watch. In this case, Adam has the occasional outburst which is frustrating and heartwrenching.

From a practical standpoint, though, there are some elements that do not read right. Harlan, Adam's father's best friend and Adam's friend in the wake of his father's passing, seems to know all of the tricks to keep Adam focused and safe. This makes a lot of sense and works beautifully. But the family lawyer does not seem to grasp the concepts and that seems strange, especially when there are moments that make it seem like Adam's father knew his demise was coming. Adam is hit with a lot of legalese from an unfamiliar source and it seems like the father would have familiarized the lawyer with some of that beforehand.

This is offset by any number of details that work exceptionally well for creating the two protagonists. For example, Beth is shown frequently writing in a diary and it was only when seeing her do that that I realized this is something I almost never see in movies, yet is such an important part of many young women's lives. Director Max Mayer also uses sound exceptionally well to help tell the story. Many shots begin with Beth or Adam within their own apartments and we hear the other approach the front door long before they knock. The use of sound creates a very firm sense of place in the New York City apartment.

In fact, the only place the sound is distracting is in the soundtrack. As an avid fan of Lost, the main theme in Adam is way too derivative of the recurring theme (for fans of Lost, it's the soft theme they play whenever a main character died in the early seasons) from Lost. That said, it still fits the quirky movie and it comes in on moments that have a melancholy feel to them, so it works, even with the derivative associations.

What makes Adam work ultimately is the fact that all of the characters are played masterfully. First, the supporting cast is chosen for a look and acting quality that makes them all seem real, not like characters on the big screen. Frankie Faison (Harlan) is the everyman and he has a casual delivery of his lines that makes him seem like the average audience member. Amy Irving appears frazzled and frumpy in virtually all of her scenes, though she solidly delivers as Beth's mother. And even Peter Gallagher does not seem like a Hollywood beautiful man all of a sudden and his performance masterfully recreates the archetype of the businessman.

No one has to earn their credit in Adam like Rose Byrne, who plays Beth. The moment Adam begins with a voice-over - which sets up a parallel between "The Little Prince" and the film - my stomach sank; I'm sick of movies that feel the need to tell as opposed to using the medium well and showing us what we're supposed to see. But Mayer limits the voice-over to one and Rose Byrne carries the emotional weight of the audience extraordinarily well as Beth. Beth is put in the same place as the audience; she does not understand Adam and yet she is interested in him. Byrne's Beth warms up to Adam at about the same pace as the audience and she slowly adapts to having the difficult man in her life and we feel for her because Byrne so adeptly illustrates shock and confusion on her face at all of the right moments.

Hugh Dancy plays Adam Raki and no doubt as the mainstream press starts reviewing Adam there will be comparisons between Dancy and Sean Penn's performance in I Am Sam (reviewed here!). Those comparisons are apt analogies because Dancy appears on screen entirely invested in the role. However, Dancy's acting is equally likely to make him the next Patrick Dempsey. Dempsey played a paranoid schizophrenic for a good run in the second season of Once & Again (reviewed here!) and Dancy's portrayal of Adam reminded me instantly of that. Dancy's body language is extraordinary as he carries Adam with a stiffness - especially in the arms and legs - that is distinctive and memorable. He owns this movie!

Ultimately, Adam is sweet, smart and surprisingly has a few twists to it that make it one of the last pleasant surprises of the year in American cinema. And it is funny (not just in awkward ways) which puts it above most comedies I've seen this year. It's never too early for smart, compelling films and Adam certainly qualifies.

For other works with Hugh Dancy, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Confessions Of A Shopaholic
Blood And Chocolate
Ella Enchanted

7/10

For other film reviews, check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Werewolves Who Love Unwisely Fail To Sell Me On Blood And Chocolate

The Good: Moments of effect, Moments of mood/acting
The Bad: Is there a plot? Light on character, acting, DVD extras
The Basics: Formulaic and utterly disappointing, Blood And Chocolate is far more boring than sexy or even interesting, even for science fiction/fantasy fans.


I was five minutes into watching Blood And Chocolate the other day when my partner called. Eager for the distraction, I asked her - for I knew she owned the movie and had seen it several times - if this was just another "vampires and werewolf love story" and her simple response was "There are no vampires in it." She was right, this is a pretty straightforward "werewolf/human hate/love story." As I sit down to write about it, I realize that it is much more on par with the Jack Nicholson/Michelle Pfeiffer flick Wolf than the more current Underworld (reviewed here!).

I ended up breaking my viewing of Blood And Chocolate into no less than four sittings, which is pretty much unheard of for me and what makes it easier for me to rate this as a below average film with remarkable ease. It is an astonishing thing for me to be so bored by a film that I cannot stand to keep watching it. But Blood And Chocolate is boring (it looks good and some of the acting is just good enough to save it from outright damnation) and that my "not recommend" is far more vociferous than the apparent ambiguity the rest of my words might convey.

Vivian is a werewolf of prophecy. Betrothed to the leader of the pack, Gabriel, Vivian lives in as much denial as she can of her animalistic duality. She refuses to hunt with the pack and does not show deference to the alpha wolf. Instead, she spends her days working at a chocolatier and her nights hanging out in an abandoned church. It is at the church that she meets author and visual artist Aiden, who invades her sanctuary to do a sketch.

Aiden pushes past some of Vivian's defenses and into her heart and soon the two are romancing one another. Younger members of Gabriel's pack, especially Rafe, are furious about this and they essentially declare war on Aiden and Vivian, sending both of them into a run for their lives.

Blood And Chocolate - apparently - was based upon a book series, but I can unabashedly say that I have never read the books. So, this evaluation is entirely of the film, not the book or how it was adapted to film. In a word, it is boring. Blood And Chocolate is boring. There is a preponderance of violence, but no real passion. In other words, those tuning in for the "chocolate" aspect will be woefully disappointed.

Moreover, I'll be the first to say I'm tired of young love with violence. Every supernaturally-themed love story seems to degenerate into a brawl and frankly, we get it. There is conflict when teenage girls fall in love with immortals or young men fall for immortal women. We get it. But why is the sole source of conflict always a violent altercation between one faction or the other? In other words, there can be inherent conflict within love itself, overcoming insecurities, bonding and that can be made more interesting by the supernatural elements of what happens when a woman and immortal fall in love, etc. But Blood And Chocolate follows the most formulaic pattern that declares that mystery love must be tinged with violence and I'm ready for something new. This is not it.

As a result, there is very little character development in this film. Instead of being rich with interesting characters, Blood And Chocolate is filled with types. In this type of movie, there is the powerful love interest, in this case, Vivian. She is the supernatural who has the power to save the damsel in distress, in this case, the lad Aiden. There is the Alpha Villain, in this case Gabriel, and his lackeys, at least one of whom must be disposed of in the course of the film to set up the supposed dramatic moment when the heroine must choose which side she is ultimately on.

In Blood And Chocolate, that choice is made with a ridiculous sense of formula. Everything happens exactly as it happens in the archetypal story of this type. In other words, there are no surprises, little of interest that is truly unique in this outing and even less that makes the viewer want to keep watching. Everything happens with a romantic drama sense of timing, from the Initial Misconception upon meeting to the Conflicted Love to the Choice Resolution. And having seen uncommon love stories or even stories where this formula is presented in such a way that it feels fresh at the least, this is impossible to get into.

This is largely from the lack of character in the film. All of the werewolves are presented as monolithic man-haters who fear humans and hunt them because it is in their nature. This is true of all of them, of course, save Vivian. Vivian is supposed to be a prophecy girl, but the prophecy in the film is presented as vague and she does not seem to believe it herself. And she is a courier for the local chocolate company. All right . . . what is the significance of that? After its initial mention, it is not explained or explored in any meaningful way and if "chocolate" is in the title, one expects that its relationship to Vivian might well be important. In this film, it is not.

At least as bad is Aiden. He is bland and provided with character through a lone expository scene. He is on the run from his father in the States because he responded to his father's violence by pushing back. All right, there is an assault warrant out on him. The problem here is that all crimes have a statue of limitations. If Aiden truly misses the States and is hiding out in Romania, he indicates no understanding that when he hits a certain age, he can go back to the U.S. Instead, he just cowers in Europe looking like he's 24 (right at the threshold of the age the warrant would expire) without any understanding that his trials might be over soon enough.

In addition to a stunning lack of character, there are no great performances in Blood And Chocolate. The men are universally bland and seem to have been cast based on how good they look with contact lenses in their eyes and no shirt on their chest and there is a whole Harlequin Romance look to the lot of them. As for the women, they are pretty much all Hollywood beautiful (and yes, I am aware that this was filmed in Europe) and none truly make a mark on the viewer.

The most problematic aspect of this is in the lead, Agnes Bruckner. Bruckner made her mark on viewers like me with her astonishingly good performance in Dreamland. Her performance in Blood And Chocolate as Vivian is bland, lacking in anything but understatement. She emotes terribly and her facial expressions are more blank than expressive. She is the love interest by virtue of casting. She has no on screen chemistry with any of the male leads and this, too, is a black mark against the film.

But ultimately, Blood And Chocolate is just a boring film. On DVD one is given the option for widescreen or pan and scan versions. There is a collection of deleted scenes which do nothing to enhance the movie in any meaningful way. There are trailers to other films and a commentary track that I refused to sit through. I gave this movie enough chances. And I can safely say, outside those who might want to watch the trippy special effects scenes with wolves transforming, there is no real good reason to subject yourself to this movie. There are plenty of better films out there.

For other works with werewolves, please visit my reviews of:
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans
Buffy The Vampire Slayer

3/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Charming When It’s Not Excruciating, Ella Enchanted Illustrates How Anne Hathaway Got To Be A Superstar!

The Good: Funny, Charming, Good acting
The Bad: Agonizing tone for much of the first half, Terrible special effects
The Basics: Ella Enchanted is an early Anne Hathaway film that illustrates her talent for picking plucky characters with moxy while still creating something surprisingly enduring.


Last weekend was a pretty good one for me in many regards. My wife and I had time together and we had just enough money to do some fun things, like go out to dinner together and take in a movie. The rest of the weekend, we stayed home and watched new (to us) DVDs and as a fan of Anne Hathaway’s work, it was a good weekend for me. Our Friday night date night was an opportunity for us to see One Day and the next day, we got out Ella Enchanted, which is one of Hathaway’s early works I had not yet seen.

Ella Enchanted is another “fairy tale rework” story, in a vein similar to Ever After (reviewed here!) or Shrek (reviewed here!). The fundamental difference for the Shrek analogy is that the references to non-fairy tale aspects tend to be lampoons of modern culture as opposed to general pop culture jokes. Like so many movies I am encountering this month, Ella Enchanted is based upon a novel that I have not read. Thus, this is a rather pure review of just the film with no comparative analysis.

Born to a family that includes a house fairy – one with very limited powers – the baby Ella is introduced to Lucinda, a powerful fairy who is known for giving terrible gifts, and she starts to cry. Offended, Lucinda gives Ella the gift of obedience and from that point forth, she is unable to resist any direction from anyone at any time. Her mother, after years of trying to undo the curse, dies and Ella, her father and Mandy the house fairy do their best to get on. Ella, for her part, has a best friend at school and – despite a few altercations – has grown up not particularly maladjusted and liberal. Her work to stop the enslavement of the giants, however, grinds to a halt when she gets two new stepsisters.

Hattie and Olive are cruel to Ella, with Hattie quickly realizing that Ella has to do anything she says. Hattie also has a pretty big crush on Prince Char, who is soon-to-ascend to the throne. Char visits Frell and runs into Ella while running away from Hattie and other fangirls. When Ella decides she absolutely must get the curse broken, she sets off to find Lucinda in the company of Slannen the elf who wants to be a lawyer and Mandy’s boyfriend/book Benny. When ogres capture the group, they are rescued by none other than Char and they journey together to the land of the giants with Ella challenging all Char thinks he knows.

Ella Enchanted starts fine, then has a pretty gruesome middle, but works well in the latter half, making it easy to recommend. Some might disagree with my assessment of the film as somewhat excruciating in the middle, but I have a high level of empathy. As such, it is exceptionally difficult for me to watch people being tormented and Hattie soon realizes just how easy it is to torment Ella and get her to do things the otherwise kind and obedient Ella would never do. Those scenes, where Ella is forced to steal, tell off her best friend and do other things very much outside her control are in many ways harder to watch than the later scenes wherein Char’s uncle Edward realizes Ella’s vulnerability.

Outside the tone becoming especially oppressive in the middle, Ella Enchanted is hampered some by the special effects. Edgar is accompanied by a snake, Heston, and the CG never quite looks right. Director Tommy O’Haver ought to be applauded for the attempts at visual grandeur, but in the same age as The Lord Of The Rings, it is hard to believe so many shots could look exactly like what they were; obvious bluescreen compositions.

That said, much of Ella Enchanted works. The movie is entertaining and Ella is an endearing character. I’m not much of a fan of voiceovers, but Eric Idle’s position in the film as the narrator actually works in this modernized fairy tale. Similarly, O’Haver picks decent musical choices, so Ella singing Queen’s “Somebody To Love” fits remarkably well as do the dances from the giants. Ella Enchanted is fun and it has a decent theme, which makes one wonder why it did not resonate more at the time of its release. Ella Enchanted is a reasonable treatise on the importance of free will and it stands as a pretty safe tale for children to learn the lesson and a very entertaining reminder for adults.

Ella Enchanted employs a decent cast for the task. Cary Elwes gets farther away from his charming protagonist from The Princess Bride as Edgar, though anyone who saw his work in the final season of The X-Files will be unsurprised that he can pull it off here. Lucy Punch is perfectly hideous as Hattie, which means she lands every insult and snide gesture perfectly. Hugh Dancy is more than just good-looking as Char. As has become his habit, he starts the film with a character who appears to be just another pretty face before turning into someone serious and interesting. Dancy is decent at bringing realization into his characters’ eyes and in Ella Enchanted his moments of epiphany are believable because of Dancy’s performance.

As for Anne Hathaway, her acting in Ella Enchanted is less physically demanding of awkwardness than her role from The Princess Diaries, despite a lot of similarities in the character’s arcs. Hathaway is wonderful, as always, as Ella of Frell, but where she truly excels is in the singing. When Hathaway sings in Ella Enchanted it completely upstages her acting. One only hopes she never tries to become a pop star, but for a scene or two in Ella Enchanted, Hathaway radiates as if she already is a pop diva and it works.

Ultimately, Ella Enchanted is diverting, even if it takes a little time before it becomes fun.

For works featuring Anne Hathaway, please check out my reviews of:
Anne Hathaway For Wonder Woman!
One Day
Love And Other Drugs
Family Guy Presents: It's A Trap!
Alice In Wonderland
Valentine's Day
Twelfth Night Soundtrack
Bride Wars
Rachel Getting Married
Passengers
Get Smart
The Devil Wears Prada
Hoodwinked!
Brokeback Mountain
The Princess Diaries

6.5/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |