I was very disappointed by the negative reviews that the critics throughout at this movie. But I didn't care. I specially ordered it and received it early and quickly put the movie in. It was a lot different than what I expected.
I'm a huge Ellen Page fan and love all the work that she has done. She was fantastic and it was nice to see considering everyone is labeling her for her Juno role. James Franco was barely in the movie but he did a decent job and played his role well. I have to disagree for Catherine Keener. Gertrude to me, is considered to be one of the most ruthless manipulators ever to live. How she got everyone to torture an innocent girl makes me sick every time I think about it. Keener's role wasn;t well written and she wasn't horrible enough for people to despise what she's done. Keener is also attractive and after seeing pictures of the real Gertrude, they could have done something to make her look a lot more run down. Supposely in real life she was incredibly stressed out (took care of eight kids and even neighbors would drop by). But then again, the film was lower budget.
The biggest question was why the filmed was very tamed. After reading many articles, it was said that what Slyvia went through was so sick that it probably would have been too hard to film. I was expected a hostel like gore but instead got more of a Hard Candy film style where you know what's happening but you don't see it. It worked but then again what was the purpose of the film? This story of Slyvia should be remembered but why shouldn't we forget it? Look at the Passion of Christ. Just interesting questions I ask myself.
Anyways, my verdict is 7/10.
I'm a huge Ellen Page fan and love all the work that she has done. She was fantastic and it was nice to see considering everyone is labeling her for her Juno role. James Franco was barely in the movie but he did a decent job and played his role well. I have to disagree for Catherine Keener. Gertrude to me, is considered to be one of the most ruthless manipulators ever to live. How she got everyone to torture an innocent girl makes me sick every time I think about it. Keener's role wasn;t well written and she wasn't horrible enough for people to despise what she's done. Keener is also attractive and after seeing pictures of the real Gertrude, they could have done something to make her look a lot more run down. Supposely in real life she was incredibly stressed out (took care of eight kids and even neighbors would drop by). But then again, the film was lower budget.
The biggest question was why the filmed was very tamed. After reading many articles, it was said that what Slyvia went through was so sick that it probably would have been too hard to film. I was expected a hostel like gore but instead got more of a Hard Candy film style where you know what's happening but you don't see it. It worked but then again what was the purpose of the film? This story of Slyvia should be remembered but why shouldn't we forget it? Look at the Passion of Christ. Just interesting questions I ask myself.
Anyways, my verdict is 7/10.