Pajiba

Sounds like someone skimmed The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and thought "Hey, if we made this story really sleazy, it might be good!"

There seems to have been a burgeoning trend in film lately, at least since the late '90's, where storytellers seem determined to trot out the most hideous of human frailties, showcasing them in an attempt to hold up a mirror in front of those of us who have not fallen so far. However, the stories are [more often than not] executed poorly, and these films end up being a barrage of images that are intended to frighten or discomfort but are instead simply distasteful and boring. In recent memory, there have only been a couple of movies that have succeeded. Monster comes to mind, saved largely by Charlize Theron's Wournos, vibrating with rage and shuddering with fear at the same time. Theron's characterization is sharply contrasted with Carlson's description of Cuthbert's over-sexualized nymph. There was nothing glamorous or sexy about her life and choices, the eroticism of any sexual relationship or attraction destroyed by the selfish motives of everyone involved.

It seems as though character driven films on subjects that are hard to watch, like Boogie Nights, succeed both because of the actors nuanced performances and the director's ability to carve a story out of what is basically a two hour montage of self-destructive behavior. Do movies like The Quiet fail because of the acting and directing? Or is it because they are simply attempts to thrill the senses with behavior that, unless suffering from some disorder, only disturb and disgust?

Am I really the only one who thinks Elisha Cuthbert looks like Porky Pig?

"Am I really the only one who thinks Elisha Cuthbert looks like Porky Pig?"

Nope, Tracy. I'll jump on that boat. And, like Porky, she tends to leave the pants elsewhere, apparently.

Wait, lemme guess - Dot isn't actually deaf? If that's the twist, I swear to God I'm going to start burning down movie studios and paintballing execs as they come screaming out of there. Elisha Cuthbert indeed painted herself into this bimbo corner, and while this film may have sounded great in the pitch meeting (don't they all?), it's probably not going to be her salvation.

And I actually enjoyed The Girl Next Door.

For all Cuthbert's sleaziness, she still professes that she won't shoot a nude scene at this point in her life. What, exactly, is she waiting for?

She can probably read lips.

Ooooo... I think I've got a handle on the finger lickin' father mourning scene. Okay, so she's a deaf mute, right? And she doesn't realize that these are her father's cremains... she thinks that Porky maliciously over-microwaved her caramel corn. 'Cause that's what mean high school girls do. So she's sad.... real
sad... and then wistfully licks her fingers to see if theres a small
vestige of caramel flavor left.

Cremains. I love that word.

Oh go on Daniel, spill the secret!
I don't intend to ever watch this steaming pile, so you wont be spoiling it! :D

Every door in Suburbia? And that 'faceless middle class' remark in the Little Miss Sunshine movie? What's the problem you people have with Suburbia anyway? These movies that take cheap shots at the middle class are getting Goddamned rediculous. Excuse us for not living in New York or L.A like 'real' Americans.

Tell me this movie doesn't steal it's twist from the legendary 1997 Matthew Modine TV movie blockbuster "What the Deaf Man Heard."
Please,please tell me.
Although, thinking about it, a sexed up Elisha Cuthbert is a definite upgrade over a smarmy self-righteous Modine.

Daniel, re: title of review

Is that a deliberate ref to a Dead Can Dance lyric, or just an interesting coincidence?

(Probably, in fact, the kind of inevitable coincidence that only takes about 400 monkeys in a room of 400 typewriters rather than true infinites.)

I have no idea what Dead Can Dance is, or if they really can dance. It's from "The Sound of Silence." What can I say, sometimes I go old school.

My guess: Dot is actually Nina's other personality. If that's true then it totally ripped off of a novel I read as a kid called Uncle Vampire about a girl and her twin sister Honey who are trying to convince everyone their uncle is one of the blood sucking undead--which of course he isn't, he's molesting her. And Honey isn't real, she's the protagonist's alter ego. Anyway, just a guess.

Matt, the problem is surburbia and its discontents are better explored in so many other films, for example, Ang Lee's The Ice Storm and, I hate to mention it, American Beauty. These types of movies (like the one above) make it seem all sexy and tawdry and rife with perversity, but in fact, it's nothing really against surburbia per se. It just feels like a pretty wretched place to live in if you don't have the perfect family or albeit, a normal one. I've lived in surburbia most of my life and hated it, so I can understand some people's distaste for it. It's just plain boring and mechanical...not that city life is much better. But it's not something I'm looking forward to as I get older at all.

What in the hell is Suburbia and it's discontents anyway? Hollywood loves to pump out these films and they think they are so revealing of "America's Dark Underbelly" or somesuch nonsense. Don't get me wrong, I like American Beauty, and the Ice Storm, but those movies, and I am sure this one too, always have an air of superiority to them that I find annoying.

They remind me of Will & Grace (stay with me). When that show first started I thought it was funny, but by the third or fourth episode I realized that the butt of most of the jokes were ordinary everyday people whose main crime was a lack of designer clothing. I got really tired of laughing at them laughing at me.

I hope a Pajiba writer does a review on Zen Noir, even if it is under 90 minutes.

Navel gazing at Suburbs - I think the American dream is based on a lie - that suburbs are as interesting as cities.
This "Dark underbelly" does not reside in suburbs. It resides in the seats of administrative power that decide to shut down the cores of cities, abandoning millions to the crack-den ruins of Rome. Ray Nagin merely presides over the newest part of the ruin, joining the web of half-dead cities that PR can't spin back to life.

Suburbs are just the lifeboats for sinking cities.

And Elisha Cuthbert is not sexy enough to distract us from this for long.

"Or is it because they are simply attempts to thrill the senses with behavior that, unless suffering from some disorder, only disturb and disgust?"

Great observation about this genre of films. I suspect that it's easier to do this than to write about good, everyday people just trying to get by who experience moments of grace compelling enough to get you to watch them. It's cheap and easy to rivet an audience with odious behavior - it's a lot more difficult to actually construct a multi-layered character. I have so much more respect for movies like The Straight Story (and Lynch has done both types of movies very well), Ulee's Gold, You Can Count on Me, etc. where the protagonists are just regular people who face an everyday conundrum. It's like reading Wallace Stegner: it's tough to make "boring" people fascinating, but really skilled artists can do it.

That said, this movie sounds like shit on a stick.

"Or is it because they are simply attempts to thrill the senses with behavior that, unless suffering from some disorder, only disturb and disgust?"

Great observation about this genre of films. I suspect that it's easier to do this than to write about good, everyday people just trying to get by who experience moments of grace compelling enough to get you to watch them. It's cheap and easy to rivet an audience with odious behavior - it's a lot more difficult to actually construct a multi-layered character. I have so much more respect for movies like The Straight Story (and Lynch has done both types of movies very well), Ulee's Gold, You Can Count on Me, etc. where the protagonists are just regular people who face an everyday conundrum. It's like reading Wallace Stegner: it's tough to make "boring" people fascinating, but really skilled artists can do it.

That said, this movie sounds like shit on a stick.

tri‧fect‧a  /ˈtraɪˌfɛktə/
–noun
1. a type of bet, esp. on horse races, in which the bettor must select the first three finishers in exact order.
2. a race in which such bets are made. Compare superfecta.

tri‧ad  /ˈtraɪæd, -əd/–noun
1. a group of three, esp. of three closely related persons or things.

tri‧o  /ˈtrioʊ/ –noun, plural tri‧os.
3. any group of three persons or things.

tri‧um‧vi‧rate  /traɪˈʌmvərɪt, -vəˌreɪt/
–noun
5. any group or set of three.

This is a pretty pedantic comment, but nobody seems to want to use the word 'trifecta' properly.

I confess I'll probably Netflix this movie and watch it when my husband is away, ONLY because I have a father/daughter incest fetish that rivals Edith Wharton's. I like the fact that she confesses to "liking the sex" sometimes.... Somehow I don't think I'll be the only one who sees this for that reason only.

Ok, so she's deaf but I'm assuming these folks believe she can't write.

"I confess I'll probably Netflix this movie and watch it when my husband is away, ONLY because I have a father/daughter incest fetish that rivals Edith Wharton's. I like the fact that she confesses to "liking the sex" sometimes."

Vivian Girl - I don't know if that's creepy or courageous or both to admit that. Wow.

Damien, as an Urban Planning student, I would just like to say your explanation of the relationship between suburbs and cities is one of the best I've ever heard. Its a damn shame you're right though...And Gina, you're right about other movies explaining the suburb deal better. I just think Hollywood uses the topic as a convenient whipping boy when they can't conjure up a better satire.

"I confess I'll probably Netflix this movie and watch it when my husband is away, ONLY because I have a father/daughter incest fetish that rivals Edith Wharton's."

Me three!

I'll save you guys some time and money and let you in on the twist:

She's not actually deaf. She is, however, blind.

Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnn.

Didn't see that one coming, didya?

Ryan, you're my hero.

But, ermm, blind?? How did that slip past everyone? What, really thick contact lenses? Just... Wow.

I think I'm one of the few people who doesn't think Elisha Cuthbert is all about sex. Mostly it's because I've never really bothered to watch anything she's been in lately, but also because I still associate her with Popular Mechanics For Kids.