One nasty piece of exploitative bunkum, Swedish-born video director Johan Renck’s pain-filled, painful display of sadomasochistic behavior, “Downloading Nancy” was soundly trounced upon its Sundance 2008 debut, despite its cast of Maria Bello, Jason Patric, Rufus Sewell and Amy Brenneman bringing their efforts to a grave, airless script with Neil Labute-like pretensions by Pamela Cuming and Lee Ross. Bello, raw, enervated, plays a dejected housewife and part-time self-cutter who trolls chat rooms to find a murderer to kill her. She meets a man who monikers himself ” Deep Pain” (Patric) and leaves her husband of fifteen years (Sewell) to explore possibilities of life toward death. Cinematographer Chris Doyle (“Chungking Express,” “Lady in the Water,” “2046,” “Paranoid Park”) lays on fluorescent pallor with economical consistency and zero emotional impact. It’s gloomier-looking than even fellow Swede Roy Andersson’s wonderful bleat of despair, “You, The Living,” at Facets. The result is less competent filmmaking than an apt metaphor for shitting ice cubes. Fetishism has seldom been shown as so deadly dull. Bello and Patric fulfill their characters’ emptiness. “Life is like being trapped in the wrong house, looking for a way out,” Nancy muses. Theaters, unlike life, are easy to escape. 102m. (Ray Pride)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
Spawn Sacrifice: A Review Of The Creator "The Creator" is richly detailed, punchy, pulpy, punkish entertainment that still has highly serious subjects in mind, without growing didactic and with substantial heart.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
One nasty piece of exploitative bunkum, Swedish-born video director Johan Renck’s pain-filled, painful display of sadomasochistic behavior, “Downloading Nancy” was soundly trounced upon its Sundance 2008 debut, despite its cast of Maria Bello, Jason Patric, Rufus Sewell and Amy Brenneman bringing their efforts to a grave, airless script with Neil Labute-like pretensions by Pamela Cuming and Lee Ross. Bello, raw, enervated, plays a dejected housewife and part-time self-cutter who trolls chat rooms to find a murderer to kill her. She meets a man who monikers himself ” Deep Pain” (Patric) and leaves her husband of fifteen years (Sewell) to explore possibilities of life toward death. Cinematographer Chris Doyle (“Chungking Express,” “Lady in the Water,” “2046,” “Paranoid Park”) lays on fluorescent pallor with economical consistency and zero emotional impact. It’s gloomier-looking than even fellow Swede Roy Andersson’s wonderful bleat of despair, “You, The Living,” at Facets. The result is less competent filmmaking than an apt metaphor for shitting ice cubes. Fetishism has seldom been shown as so deadly dull. Bello and Patric fulfill their characters’ emptiness. “Life is like being trapped in the wrong house, looking for a way out,” Nancy muses. Theaters, unlike life, are easy to escape. 102m. (Ray Pride)
