Seen: June 8th, 2007
Format: DVD
Rating: 7
This film follows a popular trend in film lately; multiple, disjoint stories which all are all related via a single thread. It also tells these stories in reverse chronological order, spiraling back to gradually reveal what's happened. Composing the story this way isn't new or particularly interesting.
Doing it well is.
I'm very impressed by the way that Moncrieff has structured this piece. Without care, the device could have easily resulted in a makeshift, hackneyed whole. Instead, we have five carefully crafted stories, with few overlapping characters. Each is a short subject which deals with the titular Dead Girl in some fashion.
But what's amazing here is the completeness and depth of the individual pieces. They are each a microcosm in which characters are revealed, explained, change and to some degree, move on. Each story is strong in it's own right. While I hesitate to say that they could stand on their own, it isn't that far fetched.
As a whole the piece is strong. Each story leads us down part of the path of the underlying tale. Each one exposes a little more of what's happened to the central character, as well as revealing the various peripheral characters' issues. It's like some twisted advent calendar of game show, each scene opening a small door and revealing part of the larger story.
We make many assumptions along the way, subconsciously filling in the blanks ourselves ahead of time. Sometimes we're right, other times were dead wrong. Out misconceptions teach us something about ourselves and our reaction to the genre. The last story ultimately fills in the final blanks for us. You may get what you expect, you may not.
There is some outstanding acting here, by some outstanding actors. This is surprising given the compactness of most of the roles. Some of the performances are very surprising in their depth, given the actual screen time each character receives. The only real dissapointment here is Brittany Murphy, not because her performance is poor, but because she seems type cast. I'd have preferred to see her stretch in one of the more subtle roles here.
I won't tell you that this is a must see. It's not perfect by any means. But it's definitely interesting and compelling enough for me to seek out more of Moncrieff's work.
Aside: There is a "Baby Whisperer" credit, which I find very amusing for some reason.
The Good: Performances, all the way 'round..
The Bad: Learning who you are
The Ugly: A trip to Norwalk
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