(Edited, revised and reposted from February 16th, 2011)
"Black Swan" - (2010) - Ballerina Natalie Portman is a sexually frustrated goody two shoes that fractures under the pressure of landing the highly coveted leading role in an upcoming, higher-profiled production of "Swan Lake". Desperate to please her perfectionist instructor (Vincent Cassell) and caged in by her creepy, overly-protective mother (Barbara Hershey), she pretty much goes off the deep end trying to make a connection to the darker side of her character's role.
The paranoid, manic delusions (or are they?) come at such a brisk clip in the third act of this film that I found myself a little desensitized to the whole thing- I've seen MOST of it all before and done much better (most recently in The Machinist). Mila Kunis (Friends With Benefits) is quite sexy as a devil-may-care rival and Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice) has an extended cameo as the previous "Black Swan".
While some have claimed that this film is some kind of inspired, mad genius masterwork, it felt like an extended, yet detached episode of "The Twilight Zone" to me. Kubrickian with a bit of Cronenberg mixed in- think The Shining mixed with small portions of The Fly (1986)... but with ballerinas. Check it out only if you're interested in seeing Portman run around terrified for a hour and a half. It's an admittedly high-quality film that just wasn't my cup o tea.
8.0 out of 10
Director: Darren Arronofsky
Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell, Barbara Hershey, Benjamin Millepied and Winona Ryder
Run-Time: 108 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use
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