The Dead Girl

So, two posts in one week! I guess it's just the fact that I know my stalker is reading my posts and even commenting, so that is incentive to keep this thing alive. (my sincere, heart-felt gratitude to my #1 stalker...you know who you are)

Ok, so I watched a weird movie last night called The Dead Girl. I don't know if you've seen Crash or not, but it's similar in its non-linear story telling, told in five chapters. I won't bog you down with the summary, but click here to read it.

My general feelings on this are mixed. The characters are incredibly deep and nuanced. yet the canvas that each are given is not vast enough. And that is the ultimate crux of telling a story in this fashion. No bone ever has enough meat, so to speak. In the first chapter, Toni Collette does a fine job of bringing to life a very troubled and altogether screwed up woman, but I'm not really sure where her central conflict is supposed to lie, how she resolves it, what her over all desire is. She is a reactionary character and she is therefore superfluous (now that is a real word...Google that one).



Out of the five chapters in this movie, two are worth it. The chapter titled "The Sister" where Rose Byrne plays a young pathologist who struggles to deal with the disappearance of her sister fifteen years earlier. Her parents just won't let her go and continue their obstinate pursuit of her, which only depresses her even more. When a body she is examining has a similar birth mark as her sister, she believes it's her sister and she is actually relieved. And for a brief moment, she finds peace and normalcy and even bumps some naughties with James Franco.

The other chapter that is great is the last one, bearing the same name as the title and delves into the sad life of Brittany Murphy's character, The Dead Girl. The lead in chapter here works with this one as the mother of the dead girl, played almost perfectly by Marcia Gay Harden, seeks for answers about her daughter. My biggest problem here is that Brittany Murphy slips into a bit of a New Jersey accent when talking tough. But this story expanded and juxtaposed with the sister chapter could have been highly potent. And had the writer/director Karen Moncrieff stuck with those two, it could have been an amazing movie. One maybe even worth the Fat Kid endorsement of it "Rocks My Grandma".

But it is a tasty treat, nonetheless. Although, with the drug use, disturbing sex, and violence involving women, buyer beware. Be very ware.