Review of Mysterious Skin (2005) by Nick O — 28 Feb 2010

I've come to the belief that any movie Joseph Gordon-Levitt chooses to be in is worth seeing. A friend recommended I see Mysterious Skin since I am such a JGL fan (or movie buff, for that matter), and now I suggest you do as I did. This drama is so fierce, so full of power and rejoice it makes it one of the most underrated films of 2005.

Mysterious Skin follows, according to the plot description as I don't want to reveal any of the movie's heartbreaking surprises, two boys from the age of eight to eighteen years of age. A devastating event brings these two tales, one of teenage prostitution and the other of supernatural recognition, together to uncover an even more desolate finale. Writer-director Gregg Araki, here adapting Scott Heim's melancholy novel, brings an astonishing amount of dignity to an objectifying narration.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been for a long time my favorite actor in Hollywood. Every movie this kid does is better than the last, Mysterious Skin no exception. Brady Corbet also triumphs as a confused and angry boy, who is so distracted by previous encounters never had the chance to ever become a man. Even the minor parts played by Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Elisabeth Shue are vacant slots filled with overwhelming amounts of emotion.

The film leaves you with the sudden realization a dark comedy would, but there's nothing funny about this subject matter. Mysterious Skin is a tough film to watch, however Araki uses shock factor to put the viewer into the shoes of the characters dilemmas. There's nothing mysterious about this Skin-- It's blue, tragic, and oh so very real.