Review of Mysterious Skin (2005) by Joe — 21 Oct 2008

This is a controversial film since it deals with child molestation. The severity of what this means for the characters involved is what gives it such a heavy feel to it. It is really interesting, because it shows two young boys who are the victims of this.

This drastically changes their entire lives, but in very different ways. For Neil, it wasnâ??t even as if the molestation was a bad thing. He enjoyed it and he saw his baseball coach who did this to him as his soul mate.

However, one day his coach did leave him, but that relationship never really left him. Neil became a male prostitute who served to older men. He became trapped in this life and was stuck in a solemn state, unable to really feel anything as he did when he was a kid.

The other boy, Brian, constantly had black outs, where hours of his life were unknown to him. He had suspicions of being abducted by aliens. One is stuck in his own skin and the other has no idea who he really is.

Both have so many restrictions put on their freedom to really live, and can never get their life back. Even though, Neil idolizes the time he had with his coach, he canâ??t find any happiness outside of that.

Of course, the film was drastically helped by Joseph Gordon-Levittâ??s performance. There is so much darkness and disturbance deep inside of him, and yet while looking at him all we can really see is someone very numb to everything around him.

With all of the amazing and breathtaking performance Gordon-Levitt has given, this is still his most impressive (The Lookout is a close second though). I really respect the material that he chooses and that he never holds back, translating so much to the audience, with his clear talent and passion for his projects.

Even days after I watched Mysterious Skin, I found myself going back examining it. It is a film that has an impact and will stay with you.