Review of You Are Alone (2005) by Jack D — 15 Oct 2007

The film claims to be 'in the vain of American Beauty', and while it is true that the torturing element of lonliness is everpresent in both films, the surreal perfection with which Sam Mendes created his world on Robin Hood Trail holds no real comparison here.

In terms of lonliness, other films, such as Notes on a Scandal, deal with lonliness in the sexual realm, but not as persistently or blatantly as this film. Still, there seems to be a quiet way the film went about dealing with the fact that a precocious 18 year old girl, accepted to Yale, decides to be a Call Girl in Connecticut.

Almost the entire film is conversed sexual dialogue between the main character and her neighbor, describing her 'job'. What exactly is the function of the neighbor? Well, of course he is just as lonely as she is and wants to save this girl from this evil world she intends upon herself.

However, the ending of the film does prove the point the film intended to make all along-- very clearly. Still, I'm not sure I completely buy into the girls' reasoning, other than she admits to doing it only because 1) she can and 2) she's bored.

That truth, given early in the film, leaves us feeling absolutely no compassion for this girl. Emotional voidance doesn't help this movie. Psychological depravity needs to be hailed in defense.