Exotica

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING MOVIES I'VE EVER SEEN
Review: Okay, I'll admit it. The box cover tempted me to rent it, particularly as the quoted reviews on the box were good. But it was not what I expected. The whole movie is about being not what you expected. We think we understand the people we are seeing, we want to put them into stereotypes, but it doesn't work that way. The movie shows how one event (which we never fully understand until the VERY end) can have life-changing impacts on so many people. We see all these strange plot elements coming together, almost (sorry for the cliche) like a rug being woven. Seeming unconnected elements come together into a whole.

It is also a sad movie. Not like a tear-jerker sad, but a sadness that permeates all the characters throughout. They have no joy...the stripping has ZERO joy, so do not get this movie if you want stripping. It is paced to match this sadness, and the performances are minimal and spare. If you need fast-paced, Hollywood style plot development, stay far away. If you need something though-provoking, surprising and emotionally draining, here you go! (Be sure to see Egoyan's SWEET HEREAFTER too.)

Rating:
Summary: The packaging is an integral part of the movie
Review: A lot of people here (the Amazon reviewer included) seems to think that the packaging doesn't accurately reflect what the movie is about. I agree 100%, but I'll bet my bottom dollar that this is an intentional mis-direction. Without giving up a spoiler, the movie itself tries very hard and succeeds at taking the viewer in - showing us all sort of stereotypes (from the bearded, kinky man onwards), re-enforcing them, and then, slowly, ever so slowly, peeling away the onion layers so that we can finally look beyond our prejudices and stereotypes and really see what is actually happening.

The "gimmick" of having a final scene force the viewer to re-interpret the entire movie has been used many times before, but never, ever, for such a deep effect and for such a meaningful purpose.

The director, Egoyan, really outdid himself on this one. IMHO, it is his best work.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic Tale of Fallen Angels
Review: The set up for "Exotica" is similar to all of Atom Egoyan's films: a situation that brings characters colliding into each other, mostly quiet and subtly, in classic Canadian restraint. They collide in the most peculiar locations and situations. In "The Adjuster", Elias Koteas plays a man who donates his house to a family that has lost their lives to a seemingly tragic fire only to suffer same the fate of his clients that he puts his own family's lives on the line for.

In Exotica, Koteas plays a college radio dj turned strip club announcer. And Egoyan chooses to portray the descent from innocence eloquently through flashbacks. Mychael Danna's score provides an integral emotional lift and feeling of hope to the scenes between Eric and Christina. This contrasts sharply with the exotic Indian Hindi vocals that relentlessly accompany the strippers as they disrobe.

The depth of expression is conveyed as simply as Eric flicking a light on and off until the reason is not there. Over the vocal track you hear the regret in his voice, "I just need to find a structure. I feel like the days just slip away." There is a slight vein of philosophy throughout most of Egoyan's films. The man is so intellectual, he could not create a philosophically devoid film if his life depended on it (though he did have a stint as a director on tv with "Friday the 13th" and "The Twilight Zone")

Though some of the acting is a bit wooden, as is the case with most Canadian films (and actors ie. Keanu), the glimmer of the gem here is the ethereal heaven and occupational hell that Egoyan pours focused expression into. He takes a lot of care into creating flawed but sympathetic characters that may appear deranged on the surface, but slowly we are shown the pieces that have unraveled them. And the payoff is eery but appropriate for the tone of this film. If you like Egoyan's style, I highly recommend "Speaking Parts" and "Felicia's Journey". "The Sweet Hereafter" falls in the category of a less personal novel adaptation, opposed to the originally written Exotica.

Rating:
Summary: your perceptions totally shattered
Review: If you Love having your mind challenged this is for you. Seductive Imagery (forget the box Cover) and complex characters lead you to certain beliefs only to have your perceptions totally shattered. Gorgeous visuals and spell binding story lines. Opening Sequences in the the film seem to be about randomly selected strangers. By the end all that you once believed is untrue and a clarity of how these people are so tightly wound up together that if you took one away, their world would collapse.

Rating:
Summary: A spooky and lovely film
Review: Egoyan's best, by far. This film is pure voodoo; a dark, luscious, unpredicatble, sexy, intelligent, mesmerizing, twisted, touching, methodically paced piece of art. One of my very favorite films, and it gets better with multiple viewings. The soundtrack is haunting and amazing, too.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: I watched this on the Independent Film Channel, drawn in by the premise of the story, only to be really disappointed. Several ridiculous plot lines converge at the strip club Exotica, and the only memorable moments in the film happen here, and I don't say that because of the strippers. The sound through most of the movie is awful, very hushed, forcing you to turn the volume up so loud that when the boom mike actually does pick up some of the characters' lines, you're sure to go deaf. Instead of coming across as an artsy film, it comes across as a jumbled mix of images and mumbled lines. The only reason I gave this thing 2 stars was because of Elias Koteas, who plays the DJ and jealous boyfriend. If it weren't for his excellent job of being a believeable creep, one star would've been all I'd given this. Skip this one.

Rating:
Summary: I almost didn't watch it
Review: Like others who've written here, I rented it - drawn in by the intriguing review - but the cover made me think I was getting less than I had hoped for.

It started off well enough that I realized there was something real here - more than a thin plot to show off some beautiful women.

I've watched it twice now, hoping that w/ the insight from the first viewing I'd have a better understanding of the ending - unfortunately it's so cryptic I still don't understand it.

The shots are beautiful, women are truly erotic, and it's interesting in a strange way. As much as I enjoy a good twisting and original plot, I unfortunately just didn't get this picture.

Rating:
Summary: Not at all what I expected
Review: A strip club and those who spin in its orbit... a smuggler ofthe eggs of rare parrots... Two concurrent love triangles... A pair oftragic secrets and the man whose life is a continuous cycle ofbuckling under their weight and maintaining the complex rubric of play-acting, projection and lies which keeps that weight on his shoulders... It IS a challenging and disturbing film, but it is equally challenged and disturbed unto itself. There are MAJOR holes in the plot and narrative, serious issues raised but never sufficiently resolved or dealt with, and too many questions left unanswered. The acting was at times flat or just off, unless Egoyan really meant for them all to seem so incredibly uncomfortable all the time. And ... what the hell ever happened with the Hyacinth Parrit eggs?

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: I think that if you dig deep enough in this film, there's nothing there. The story is contrived and goes out of its way to set you up. But the ride is a lot of fun, from the titilating setting to the engrossing soundtrack, you're fairly absorbed throughout the movie. You sit there forming opinions about what you're seeing, trying to figure out why the filmmaker has brought you here, and then the final twist when all the pieces you've seen come together, nothing is as it seems -- but still none of it makes too much sense. Despite the deep, dark secret that underlies the story, you have a hard time seeing how everyone got from point A to point B in this story. It's a setup, a manipulation. But it still really is a lot of fun.

Rating:
Summary: How bizarre
Review: There are some films you often talk of if you are asked what kind of films you appreciate. This is one of mine. Subversive pictures full of magic and a very special rhythm throughout the whole film are the major elements. This style -and you could talk of it as a stylish film as well- pulls you directely into it and makes you somehow feel like Alice in Wonderland. Eyerything seems common but yet different of all you know. If you are somewhat sensitive and you like to be troubled by a film... .