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LadyDester
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- Review count2
- Helpfulness votes0
- First reviewDecember 14, 2010
- Last reviewNovember 24, 2011
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating3.5
LadyDester's Reviews
Overall rating
4
/
5
Kids and i loved it!
PostedNovember 24, 2011
LadyDester
from NJ
Very sweet movie with several good messages. Loved the animation, the music was great. The krill were faves! My 5 and 8 year olds both enjoyed it as did i. My only criticism that it ran a bit long, but we were all attentive with little to no squirming!
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
3
/
5
Good But Should Have Been Great
PostedDecember 14, 2010
LadyDester
from NJ
This movie is a puzzler. It is a good film that could & should have been Academy-award caliber great. Billed as a psycho-sexual thriller, i am not sure if it is trying to be a fictional docu-drama of decent into madness, character study, expose of the true evils of the dance world, thriller or just a guessing game. It takes on alot. But that is part of the fun.
The script is fairly well-done if a bit uneven. Mysteries abound plot and character-wise. There are a few jumping in your seat mini-shocks and it definitely keeps you guessing where reality ends and fantasy/ insanity begins. But there were also a few moments definitely not meant to be comedic that elicited laughs from the audience.
I believe the major weakness of the film is the unfortunate lack of acting talent by star Natalie Portman. Though she gets points for her strenuous dedication and full year of dance training prior to filming, the breathy high-pitched little girl voice and flat emotionally-devoid delivery (her standard go-to “acting chops”) robbed at least the first three quarters of the movie of being truly great. Perhaps an acting rather than a dance coach would have been time and money better spent. She has perhaps two scenes toward the end where she trots out something that resembles true emotion, and her final dance scene is quite good, but by then it is a little late to care. Her pretty though bland face and mostly mediocre dancing-sorry it takes more than a year to become a prima ballerina!-unfortunately cannot carry the entire film.
Barbara Hershey is creepily adequate in the thankless role of the crazy? loving? Mom. And it was fun if a bit sad to see Winona Ryder as the embittered ex-prima-ballerina has-been. Was this cruel type-casting? Who is this woman’s agent??
But the true standout here is Mila Kunis as the nemesis?friend? When she is on-screen, you just have to watch her. She, unlike Portman, can actually act, is beautiful & expressive, can dance, and possesses “The It Factor.” In a seemingly life-imitating-art twist, she plays the possibly more talented ballerina who may/may not be trying to usurp Nina’s role. More cruel type-casting? Is the joke on the audience in this case or Miss Portman? You be the judge…
I wish I could re-cast this film and put Mila Kunis in the starring role of Nina. I think it would be not only an award-worthy performance but a five star movie. As it stands I give it 3 Stars for a good effort, a fun watch and a true star turn-unfortunately not by the star-but by supporting actress Ms. Kunis.
Too bad this film didn’t live up to it’s true full potential. Love didn’t kill the swan, miscasting did.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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