Rating: 
Summary: Delightfully creepy
Review: Although a little slow at times, this film never once ceases to fill the viewer with a vague sense of unease. The co-dependency of Elliot and Beverly is made frighteningly real by the surrealististic overtones injected into the mundanity.The cinematography and set design complement each other wonderfully, with gloomy, unreal overtones occasionally shot through with brilliant shafts of light. This is a wonderful use of a night. I wouldn't claim it to be Iron's best work, but it does rank up there. It is certainly more captivating than *Damage*, but not as hypnotizing as *Lolita*.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating character study
Review: Beautifully acted by Jeremy Irons--probably his best performance. Great looking DVD with lots to offer Cronenberg fans.
Rating: 
Summary: This is an incredibly depressing movie.
Review: If you want to feel like dirt, watch this movie. This is not a movie about the heroic nature of man. It is about the defeat of the human spirit displayed in a very twisted manner.
Rating:
Summary: THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT
Review: I can't help the fact that this film has a really depressive atmosphere but, i must say, a very intersting one. And isn't that what we exactly want in a Cronenberg film ?
Rating:
Summary: Dead Ringers turns out to be Cronenberg's masterpiece
Review: David Cronenberg was coming off of the success of THE FLY when he made this movie, based on the novel Twins which was loosely based on a true story. It recalls twin gynochologists and their obsession with their work. But when on brother falls in love more with a woman than either his work or his other brother, they are both spiraled into the destruction of their minds. Jeremy Irons plays both twins (so fabulously that Cronenberg asked irons to return in his 1993 film M BUTTERFLY). Very disturbing film, but brilliantly made. This is an absolute MUST for Cronenberg junkies, and an extremely powerful watch for all other walks of life. If you have never experienced Cronenberg, this might be a great place to start!
Rating:
Summary: welcome to cronenbergs brutal beautiful world
Review: the criterion collection is a superb presentation of david cronenbergs masterwork; dead ringers.
this film stands with crash, rabid, the brood, and spider as essential cronenberg.
his whole body of work has been impressive and one is hard pressed to come up with a more individualistic auteur in cinema today.
dead ringers contains two of the most incredibly acted performances in recent memory. irons, of course , and bujold.
much has rightly been made of irons' dual performance and he deservedly (and surprisingly)won an oscar nomination for that performance.
but as much as irons performance was celebrated, bujolds was somewhat ignored. her character is smoldering in tormented sexuality and she balances coolness, vulnerability and agressive sexuality in a truly jarring performance. bujold, with barbara hershey,remains one of the most underrated actresses of her generation and she (unlike actresses such as nicole kidman) is an actress we need have no fear of ever going 'merchant ivory'
the visuals in this film are numbing and one walks away with various shades of horrific red seared into your brain (and of course we know red equals both sex and death, an understandably favorite obsession with cronenberg).
the images of gynological instruments transformed into sculpural torture devices is one of the most horrific ever shown on celluloid and this takes that whole sex and death theme to the nth degree.predictably enough, it is one of the most squirm inducing moments of the entire film.
by the time this film is finished you are mentally drained and i remember walking out of the theatre mumbling (probably incoherently) to myslef.
there are not many films that can make me feel like ive just been run over by a freight train.
Rating:
Summary: Dead Ringers
Review: The film was described to me as "horror." No. That individual failed to understand the complexities of twins-ship. Yes, the surgical instruments for mutant women, downward spiralling drug addiction, co-dependency of twins were superior in the technical (split-screens) and acting categories. But the fact that this was a true story about the Marcus twins is utterly fanastic. Cronenberg, Irons, & Bujold perform exceptionally well in this deeply sad portrayal of brilliant surgical reproductive gynecologists, making Barber's Adagio for Strings apropos for closure. Kafka once said that one should read books that melt the iceburg within us; the same adage applies to film.
Rating:
Summary: Jeremy Irons does more than just clone himself in this role!
Review: The Mantle brothers, Beverly and Elliot, are more than just identical twins. They're like two aspects of one person's internal character turned into two separate external realities. They're both brilliant gynecologists specializing in infertility problems with women and have spent their whole lives living as if they were one individual. They live in the same flat, work at the same clinic and share the same unsuspecting women until Beverly falls in love and no longer wants to share. This emotional break initiates an evaluation of the self, ultimately calling into question the very nature of the brothers symbiotic relations. Can they survive without each other? Jeremy Irons does more than just clone himself in this role, but engenders the brothers Mantle with two distinctive characterizations that are convincing and compelling. Based on an actual case.
Rating:
Summary: Cronenberg is the greatest Canadian director by far.
Review: I'm kinda new to Cronenberg only previously seeing "Videodrome" and loving the hell out of it. Same goes for Dead Ringers. From the great performance by Jeromy Irons to the incredibly creative writing and directing of David Cronenberg this film could not be any better. From only seeing two of his film's I'm really having trouble thinking of a Canadian director that can even be compared to Cronenberg. Actually I'm having trouble thinking of any director in the past 30 years I can place above Cronenberg. I don't say this to often about a director but I think it's definetly safe to say that Cronenberg is a genius. He's made a new fan. Being Canadian myself I wish I looked into him alot earlier. If feel as if I was missing so much.
Rating:
Summary: Jeremy Irons is magnificent!
Review: I remember the trailers for this film. The film company promoted this movie like it was a horror film. Yes, David Cronenberg made successful horror films like "The Brood", "Scanners" and of course, "The Fly". But they clearly missed the boat on this movie. This is an effective drama on the lives of identical twins and how their reactions (alcohol, drugs, relationships, etc.) coinside with each other. I thought Jeremy Irons was outstanding in this film. He captures the essence of both of the doomed twins. He would later recieve an Academy Award. Genevive Bujold gives an effective performance as Claudia. Overall, this is a moving and powerful film study.
(Note - Be on the lookout for Jill Hennessy and her twin sister, Jacqueline in their first roles.)
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