KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Clevercell Very disappointing...

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

scoup Low rating is due to film shortcomings and not content of the movie or graphic scenes – I am perfectly fine with the subject matter.Maria Bello's portrayal of Nancy is lacking on many levels. I feel no empathy towards her and further into the movie I begin to look forward to her death to end her whiny self-absorbed and childish behavior. Another walking skeleton actress who needs to eat something because the sex scenes were not sexy or engaging. How we are supposed to believe that not only one man, but two are in love with this train wreck is beyond me and derails the entire movie.I understand that her childhood abuse contributed to her emotional problems, but leave the marriage like every other dysfunctional person; there were no kids to keep her there (another understandably depressing issue but of course she can't adopt, right?). Nope. She just stays and tortures her husband and flings potatoes at him and wonders why he won't screw her – that's hot…not. If she really wanted to be tortured and killed, then go live on the street and get raped and beaten, probably killed. Nope. Comfy house with husband worrying about her while she emails other men and cuts herself.I've seen the criticism and discussion of the husband Albert as being unresponsive and contributory. I feel that this portrayal or opinion is unfair. He seems to be worn from 15 years of marriage to this roller-coaster twit; every emotion has already been extracted many times over so what is the use. Sewell has it down perfectly for me. If the husband was making her unhappy, then she had every opportunity to leave over 15 years. It just looks like she enjoyed being supported so she did not work and could concentrate on her neuroses.Patric as the boyfriend/killer was okay. Maybe it was the script, but I just did not get enough conviction that his character derived pleasure and satisfaction.I had a classmate that committed suicide in 6th grade. By this real life standard, Nancy is an epic failure at her deepest desire to end her pain this far along. The story then becomes one of fetish and narcissism instead of desperation. There is no discussion to be had regarding lack of understanding, compassion or experience in the aforementioned subjects; I have plenty and draw from real life my assessment that the characters and storyline are not cohesive and true to life. This story is inspired by a real life story – I did research it after I viewed the movie. It also solidified my opinion more.

Raymond I'm gonna start out by saying that this may be the most depressing and distressing movie I've ever seen and I've seen a few. It hit me from behind, I had no idea what I was about to watch. Sure, there are movies about for example the holocaust(s) and some powerful horror movies, but this movie managed to beat them to it. I was a bit surprised about the low score, as this really is such a well crafted movie that it deserves better. Altho I understand some may be put off by it's absolute bleakness. It's slow, and it's very hard to watch. On the negative side, there is a tiny amount of exploitment, as the story is said to be inspired by true events and the direction does underline a bit. This is where I drop the score one point. It's a difficult scenario with (inspired by) true stories, as you can't really know what the directors motive was to put this on screen. Is it his affection for subjects portrayed here or the fact that he wants to make people think about unfortunate people you don't often see on the media.Maria Bello portrays an utterly depressed woman who has been abused as a child and can no longer connect with her husband (Rufus Sewell). She then contacts a man (Jason Patrick) online who agrees to kill her. The story jumps right into it and is not 100 % linear, which is a bit distracting here and there, but also works for the benefit of the dark story.There are as many sides to the story as there are characters involved. It could be seen as a directorial success that even tho the story is partly seen thru his husband, it still manages to keep him as a bit of a mystery. The focus is always on Nancy. There are a lot of scenes where Nancys husband is shown after Nancy leaves to meet her killer, but we are never really let inside the husbands thoughts. On the other hand, Nancy's character may be underlined too much. Is this a directorial decision to focus on Nancy's need for attention or just to have as many scenes as possible to show Nancys downfall, I don't know. I'm guessing it's all intentional as the movie is quite well crafted and every detail seems to be there for a reason.There is one scene in particular which had a tremendous impact on me. The one where she starts a food war during a bleak dinner. This is probably the only moment in the movie where you can see a spark in her eye. Only to be shot down immediately by her husbands reaction.Where this movie may fail a bit is that it is easy to see the husband as a baddie. Or at least this is how I take it from the reviews written here. Had the story been portrayed from another perspective, we could've seen a tormented man who has focused on his hobby to stay sane in a non working, infertile marriage. There are people who are unable to show their feelings. Nancy had a tragic past, but this could also be a case of bad matchmaking to begin with.A word of praise must go to Jason Patrick, who makes an unbelievably chilling role. It's completely new, never seen a character like his played on screen. There are scenes where his eyes show zero emotion, yet at times you can feel his empathy and care. I read he replaced Ray Liotta and this is a small victory. Liotta has played so many psycho roles that he would've watered down the whole movie. Jason Patrick hasn't been in a lot of movies and thinking about it now, he's a perfect choice for the role.I read somewhere that the director credits his homeland Sweden. He points out that only Finnish people may be more depressed than they. Maybe it is the fact that I'm Finnish that I really felt this movie and didn't see it pointless and slow waste of time as some have said it to be.

TheExpatriate700 Before renting Downloading Nancy, people should be aware that it is an extremely bleak, depressing film that follows the trajectories of an emotionally disturbed woman and the man she finds online to torture and murder her. This is not a thrill a minute suspense film for the Transformers crowd, or a film to brighten your day. It features semi- graphic depictions of sadomasochism, and explores the psyches of people suffering from severe emotional dysfunction.It is also one of the best films of the past two years, and has been unjustly neglected by film distributors, critics, and audiences.The film functions on a number of levels. On one hand, it explores the personality and life of Nancy, a woman unable to cope with the trauma of having been sexually abused as a child. We see her experiences with a therapist and with self-mutilation. However, it is also an indictment of a emotionally and physically sterile suburban existence, embodied by her dullard husband Albert. The film's sets and color scheme reflect this barrenness, with gray being the color of the day.Maria Bello's performance anchors the film, and should have been given an Oscar nomination. Although most of the praise has gone to Bello, it is also worth noting Jason Patric's performance as the sadomasochist she turns to for release.Although I believe this is a very good film, it is not perfect. Rufus Sewell's portrayal of Albert is overly broad, lacking real depth. Furthermore, the film's soundtrack is lacking, a very generic synthesizer score that may reflect the film's low budget.For comparison, look at David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers and the Vera Farmiga film Quid Pro Quo. As with these films, many people will hate it, but the thoughtful will love it.

peedur Crimelibrary has an account of a suburban Baltimore, MD woman whose story is markedly similar to this film in the broad facts.However, the movie departs from that story when exploring the protagonist's psychology - Maria Bello plays a very different character from that of Sharon Lopatka. The film tries to link contradicting pathologies which weren't present in the real story, and which would be fine if there was a point - there doesn't seem to be. Unlike Michael Haneke's, "La Pianiste," there seems to be a poor grasp or care about the underlying chaos of this character beyond the dramatic possibilities. Maria Bello's performance is admirable but the narrative fails to draw significant meaning from the substance of her struggle.While there is an attempt to create a dark, grim sheen to the film, the casting of two very pretty Hollywood stars (Bello and Patric) was an epic blunder. It adds an unwelcome 'allure' to a tale which should remain, frankly, indigestible. Marketable, sexy actors transform this fascinating story into something weirdly, sadly exploitative. Jason Patric is such a poor choice - it couldn't be any more distracting if it were Brad Pitt! (It might have felt more grounded with actors like James Gandolfini and Kathy Bates... ).Rufus Sewell is captivating here and brings a needed realism in his portrayal of the bewildered husband.