Review of Lost and Delirious (2001) by Douglas H — 28 Nov 2008

It's those darn divisive films that always have the capability to hit one the hardest and brings out the passionate perspective. This one sure did and no less than Roger Ebert summed up that reaction in one of his several pieces which mentioned this film as he questioned cyncicism in and cynical approach to modern film.

Unlike Ebert, I was even more upfront and have never wavered from my seemingly extreme thought on this one. This is the finest film of the decade (yes more so imo than The New World or Before Sunset or Talk To Her or Moodyson's Together) for what it achieves is an honesty of love and lust, anguish and torment that is too rare.

Taking the noxious notion of 60's lesbian exploitation (the type rightly criticized in The Celluloid Closet) and twisting it into something true, it reverses roles in the process. The heroine is not the young Mouse deposited at the boarding school or her new roommate, the likeable Tory.

It is the other roommate, the hotheaded intellectual Paulie who dominates. Once the type of female character audiences were meant to look on with disdain, Paulie becomes the one we root for even as she goes to dark, unsettling places.

The film's first half concerns the revelation that Paulie and Tory are in love and these scenes are sharply constructed, engaging the viewer while allowing a comprehension of the romance's possible flaw (Tory's need for familial and societal approval).

Discovery ends the utopia swiftly and what begins is Paulie's unnerving, profoundly moving journey into overwhelming despair. It's ending, also divisive, further turns a cliche on it's head and works on several levels.

Jessica Pare is strong as Tory for the film does not work if we are not aware of her pain also. A staggering scene comes as she breaks down after telling her sister a series of vicious lies about Paulie while an unsure glance towards her Father at a dance says volumes about her betrayal.

Mischa Barton is offkilter timid as Mouse and it works here to good effect. The film's cinematography and score serve to enhance it to great degree as does the typically smart direction of Lea Pool (whose Set Me Free was one of the finer films of the late 90's).

However it is Piper Perabo as the tragic Paulie who takes this film to the next level. It is a spectacular performance, willing to go to the edge throughout. She plays her scenes at such a heightened emotionally naked level that it is sometimes uncomfortable to watch.

It is as confrontational a piece of acting as one is likely to see and Perabo never falters. Her performance, as with the film, is an alltimer.