Rating: 
Summary: Hysterically Blind...
Review: Uma Thurman, Juliette Lewis and Gena Rowlands star in this small, constrained indie drama about three womens' lives unfolding in a desparate, bittersweet way. Thurman and Lewis (playing a single mother) are two circa 30-ish women who frequent their local bar, "Ollies," trolling for love, affection, and men with relationship potential. And boy are they fishing in the wrong sea! But they don't quite realize it, at least not for most of the film. The film's title "Hysterical Blindness" is a play on words which reflects the searching mostly in vain of the two young women in the film to find real love in a mostly deserted place, and also a description of an ailment which Thurman's character struggles with: under severe stress, she loses her vision, literally, and becomes 'hysterically blind.' Rowlands plays Thurman's mother, a woman whose husband left her suddenly when Thurman's character was 13, a sad and defining moment in both women's lives, and one which they both have yet to fully come to terms with. Solidly working class, Thurman works in a sewing factory of sorts, and Rowlands' character is a waitress in a diner. When I say that the film is about lives unfolding, that isn't entirely true, because these lives threaten to never really unfold at all. One worries that the lives of these characters will never really take flight or emerge in the way that they could, should, or are supposed to. It's like watching a starting-to-unfurl cocoon, that never really keeps unfurling. These women are stuck, in their habits, their jobs, their way of thinking, their 'place' in life, and though they are beautiful and kind and have things to offer, one gets the feeling that somehow they will likely never get where they should be going, that the greyness and dusty shroudedness of their cocoons will never really fade away or change. Although they *could* go somewhere, maybe not "far," whatever that would be, but at least somewhere new in their lives, somewhere meaningful, in all their colors and glory and vibrant wings, the fact that they don't seem headed in that direction in any significant way that makes it a bit of a downer of a film. As much as the end would like to have you believe it is hopeful, or that the characters have changed to a significant enough degree that their lives will have more meaning and clarity and beauty, the ending is too small and short and ordinary, and it hasn't been properly built up to enough to really get where it needs to, or is trying to, or seems to think it is going. As typical indie fare, the film has a character-driven plot (though really there isn't much of a plot, over-all), with some symbolism strewn in here and there, and some definite emotive moments. But the film doesn't add up to much really, in its scope or storyline or message. What really shines here I guess is the acting. Both Juliette Lewis and Uma Thurman truly inhabit their characters and, especially in the case of Thurman's character, really convey her sense of desparation and loneliness, her utter need and unhappiness. I recommend it as a look at some really amazing acting, but not for too many other reasons. There are just too many other indie films that are better or more well-rounded or have a greater scope. All that being said, I'm glad I saw it, and the idea of being 'hysterically blind' due to the utter desparate notion of relying entirely on others, specifically men (if you are a woman) for your happiness, and how much of a mistake that is, does come through loud and clear. And it was nice to see two beautiful and elegant Hollywood actresses really going no-holds barred in portraying somewhat hopeless, hapless and not very intelligent characters (not to mention entirely unglamorous.. though Thurman is beautiful despite herself here.. it just makes you wish she Knew how much she had to offer, and how little sense it made for her to act as desparate as she did in this film. At least one gets the sense that as the film went on, she was starting to get the idea, which made it bearable.) Gena Rowlands, in her role as Thurman's mother, also does well, but not spectacularly. All three women have done better work in better pictures, but this is one is on their filmic resume, so fans should still make a point to see it.
Rating:
Summary: Downer
Review: While Ms Lewis and Ms. Thurman are both fantastic, I didn't enjoy the film. Simply too depressing, and I just did not see the point.
The girls did not even look very good in their eighties get-ups.
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