Compulsion

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. I was exhausted from work and felt like watching a predictable horror movie. This is not at all a thriller or a horror movie. It is actually an interesting buddy film between two damaged women who crave what they can't have--love. One tries to find fulfillment through cooking and baking and serving gourmet meals, compulsively nurturing, and another who is desperate for a nurturer, a bulimic who is unable to eat. It is visually very interesting. Amy (Heather Graham, whom I thought was fantastic)and her TV dreams are reminiscent of Nicole Kidman and TO DIE FOR; the bright colors of her dress against the sterile white fake TV set contrast with dark, dreary tones of her idol and then friend Saffron (Moss). I really enjoyed the lush, gorgeous meals Amy created, at first trying to woo Saffron as a friend and then, sensing Saffron's despondency and loneliness much like her own, attempting to sustain her through food and create some kind of sensuous joy for her. The ending makes this a black comedy, if one needs to label it. The writing is clunky and personally I would have enjoyed seeing a couple more scenes showing development of this friendship but filling in the blanks is fun, too.