Hmmm…. how do I say this nicely?
This movie was a bag of crap balls.
Let’s peruse the setup. Teenage Ellie lives with her parents and younger sister in a suburban planned community, presumably somewhere a bit east of LA. Both parents are screwing around—Mom with the hunky neighbor, Dad with the hired help. When her mother is mysteriously murdered, Ellie steps up by taking the “mom” role in the household—preparing meals, cleaning up, but also wearing sexy attire seemingly to seduce her own father. (Presumably, Ellie is short for Elektra, the namesake in Jung’s female version of the Oedipal complex.)
On one hand, this movie did make me miss the creepy inappropriateness of 90s cinema. Those movies were like your drunk uncle at thanksgiving who is always on the verge of some off-color joke that will flatten Grandma or your politically correct niece.
On the other hand, the whole thing was like a bad Lifetime movie. The dialogue was plodding, character motivation was nebulous, and the whole package felt more soap opera than thriller.
Julia Stiles plays Ellie (her first role?) and you can see her talent even in this dog pile.
I did love the cheeseball Joe-Friday-esque cop who investigates the case and ultimately beds a horny neighbor. He’s introduced with a swirl of cool jazz saxophone music that brought to mind the version of Harlem Nocturne that serves as the opening theme for the 1980s Mike Hammer TV show. Maybe that was a hint that the movie wasn’t taking itself very seriously.
The cop has “Wicked’s” best line: A lot of people screw around. I used to screw around.
There’s a twist ending. I’m not even sure I understood it. But I didn’t really care to think it through.
Watch it if you dare.
(I’ll also note that it’s impossible to find a decent-sized version of the movie poster, which is why I’m using this Sundance selection poster instead.)
