Review of Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) by Micki K — 11 Nov 2009

Nicole Kidman performance is captivating without being as rich as some of her previous and later works. However, once the initial furry set up has been established the movie doesn't endeaver to do much more with its brave story. There's some muttering about desire and more than what's needed on the nudism side of things, but nothing very substantial is offered. All the more annoying is that in real life her character, Diane Arbus, took her own life at 48, which is not shown or even mentioned in this loosely based biopic....

It's hard to shake off the feeling that this mesmerising but puzzling film is a biopic masquerading as a fantasy tale, or maybe its the other way round. Whichever it may be, this is a good attempt to do something with the genre, but unfortunately it doesn't grow on you like the fur on Downey Jr.'s skin. If you're ready for something a little out of the ordinary try this film.