If this movie had been made in 1990, it might have caused a minor stir. If it had been made in 2000, it would have produced a global nerdgasm of epic proportions. Making it in 2007, though, is just being behind the curve.
The story is about successful British businesswoman Alice (Gillian Anderson) who invites security system installer Adam (Danny Dyer) to a party at her boss' country estate. Adam is very much a working class guy who doesn't fit in with Alice's crowd, but they fit together well enough to slip out into the woods for a quickie. Driving home from the party, they encounter three strangers who beat Adam to a pulp and rape Alice on the hood of her car. We next see Alice and Adam a month after the attacks, living in Alice's apartment and still recovering from the trauma. When she returns to her parent's home after her father dies, Alice sees one of the men who attacked them and she and Adam set out to get even and more.
When I say it would have caused a minor stir 20 years ago, that's because this revenge film casts the woman as the cold hearted seeker of vengeance and the man as her conflicted, reluctant sidekick. Alice is the driving force, both formulating the plans and planning to do the killing herself. Adam, scarred and blind in one eye from the beating, clearly has no appetite for the scheme but clings to Alice like a life jacket at sea. The movie plays nicely with the idea of Adam's scars being visible but Alice's being hidden in her heart and her spirit. It also has a very interesting and provocative take on Adam's sense of emasculation and how he regains his manhood.
If it had come out 10 years ago there also would've been a noticeable reaction because Gillian Anderson gets naked. She's thoroughly topless in just about exactly the way every horny X Files fans ever wanted her to be (and I'm not referring to the rape scene). She was rubbing up against 40 years old when she made this film and does have the somewhat drawn look in the face women can get when they try to be too thin as they enter middle age, but everything between the ankles and the neck is still quite outstanding.
The problem with making a film like this in 2007, though, is that the bar for revenge films is set so high now. The beating and rape, while they would be life-changingly awful in the real world, are fairly tame by this genre's standards. Alice and Adam's violent vengeance itself, except for one penetrating moment, is also pretty unremarkable. And while making the woman the Charles Bronson of the picture is a different take, the movie only establishes and never really explores the dynamic between Alice and Adam. They're more like pieces moved around by the plot than they are characters controlling the story through their actions. And then when the movie flips Alice and Adam's perspective on their terrible intentions, it never really explains why it happens and then ends too quickly to explore how the shift would change the characters' relationship. This is one of those rare films that would have really benefited from being about half an hour longer and going several steps beyond where it now ends.
If it were a fresher, rawer story, its weaknesses wouldn't be as apparent and it could get by on its strengths. But we've seen this story so many times before, with the violence and emotional conflict far more heightened, that you can't help but notice the movie isn't quite as good as it could or should be.
This certainly isn't a bad film but except for Gillian Anderson's impressive boobage, there's really no reason to watch this movie instead of something else.
The story is about successful British businesswoman Alice (Gillian Anderson) who invites security system installer Adam (Danny Dyer) to a party at her boss' country estate. Adam is very much a working class guy who doesn't fit in with Alice's crowd, but they fit together well enough to slip out into the woods for a quickie. Driving home from the party, they encounter three strangers who beat Adam to a pulp and rape Alice on the hood of her car. We next see Alice and Adam a month after the attacks, living in Alice's apartment and still recovering from the trauma. When she returns to her parent's home after her father dies, Alice sees one of the men who attacked them and she and Adam set out to get even and more.
When I say it would have caused a minor stir 20 years ago, that's because this revenge film casts the woman as the cold hearted seeker of vengeance and the man as her conflicted, reluctant sidekick. Alice is the driving force, both formulating the plans and planning to do the killing herself. Adam, scarred and blind in one eye from the beating, clearly has no appetite for the scheme but clings to Alice like a life jacket at sea. The movie plays nicely with the idea of Adam's scars being visible but Alice's being hidden in her heart and her spirit. It also has a very interesting and provocative take on Adam's sense of emasculation and how he regains his manhood.
If it had come out 10 years ago there also would've been a noticeable reaction because Gillian Anderson gets naked. She's thoroughly topless in just about exactly the way every horny X Files fans ever wanted her to be (and I'm not referring to the rape scene). She was rubbing up against 40 years old when she made this film and does have the somewhat drawn look in the face women can get when they try to be too thin as they enter middle age, but everything between the ankles and the neck is still quite outstanding.
The problem with making a film like this in 2007, though, is that the bar for revenge films is set so high now. The beating and rape, while they would be life-changingly awful in the real world, are fairly tame by this genre's standards. Alice and Adam's violent vengeance itself, except for one penetrating moment, is also pretty unremarkable. And while making the woman the Charles Bronson of the picture is a different take, the movie only establishes and never really explores the dynamic between Alice and Adam. They're more like pieces moved around by the plot than they are characters controlling the story through their actions. And then when the movie flips Alice and Adam's perspective on their terrible intentions, it never really explains why it happens and then ends too quickly to explore how the shift would change the characters' relationship. This is one of those rare films that would have really benefited from being about half an hour longer and going several steps beyond where it now ends.
If it were a fresher, rawer story, its weaknesses wouldn't be as apparent and it could get by on its strengths. But we've seen this story so many times before, with the violence and emotional conflict far more heightened, that you can't help but notice the movie isn't quite as good as it could or should be.
This certainly isn't a bad film but except for Gillian Anderson's impressive boobage, there's really no reason to watch this movie instead of something else.