Review of Sleeping Beauty (2011) by Thomas W — 07 Dec 2011

I had written a review of substance and length regarding the pointless-ness of Sleeping Beauty; but the new Flixster jumped pages at the touch of a button and lost it ALL. As the film isn't worth any more of my time (this says a LOT about it!), it will get a micro-review and that is it.

Sleeping Beauty wants to be edgy and provocative and while it is at times ... it does nothing with it. It is "art for art's sake" ... and I think that is the worst as there is no real emotion or feeling behind it.

Emily Browning (Lemony Snickets's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sucker Punch) plays apathetic Lucy who works side-job after side-job after side-job and who's passive attitudie towards sex is illustrated when her and a friend flip-a-coin to determine who gets which nightly encounter! The film's title refers to Lucy as she takes on yet another job that requires that she medicate herself so that she'll pass out (and be nothing more than a body) for men to come into her room and have their way(s) with her (one rule: NO penetration! and the rest is fair game!).

I think there was an interesting, possible what-if story-line that could have been explored here; but it isn't and the writer/direcor, Julia Leigh, just has the movie go on-and-on-and-on. After a bit, there is NO purpose and it becomes tedious and hard to watch.

Are we supposed to care about Lucy even though she has proven that she doesn't feel like the rest of us? The film should have been perplexing as in "why is Lucy doing this" not in "why has this movie been made?" I'm pretty certain that I understood the film just fine -- there is just nothing here.