All I could think of while watching this montrosity of celluloid ambiguity, besides Maggie Gyllenhaal's miraculous performance, was BOC's "Dominance and Submission" ("Radios Appear"), which is my favorite hard rock studio performance.
I absolutely loved it. Most movies would have found a way to "cure" the characters, or at least "cure" Maggie's character so she could leave Spader's character and live happily ever after. The movie dared to surmise that perhaps there's just nothing wrong with them finding happiness in each other and their lifestyle. That's hard to do, as most movies use S&M to go completely over the top and portray it as something only the most deviant, trashy people get a kick out of... but these were your average, cute, small town nine to fivers. I thought there were problems here and there, but I still enjoyed it.
So do you guys recommend it? Should I rent it (whenever it comes out) and watch it with my parents or will there be too many 'what IS this movie?' moments?
I probably wouldn't race to watch it with MY parents, but it wouldn't be the end of the world either. I really liked this movie, but I've only recently decided that . . . even though I saw it more than 6? months ago (yeah). The reason, even though I was on the fence when I left the theater, is because it has stayed with me this long. It's one of those movies with a plot, feel, and performances you just can't shake. cool
