Boxing Helena
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Movie Reviews of Boxing Helena
Movie Review: provocative concept but extremely uneven in every way
Summary: 2 Stars
Okay. As a huge David Lynch fan (I gather like many folks who went to see the film), I thought I have a look at his daughter's film debut (and only film to date? I wonder why) to see what all the fuss was about. I remember the film when it was in theaters a decade ago. I also recalled the whole controversy over Kim Basinger's departure from the project. Seeing the DVD on the shelf in my favorite video store, I decided to give it a chance. Well, I have to say I don't see what the big hoopla was all about. The film played like a pumped up B movie potboiler melodrama and/or parody of one. Because Jennifer Chambers Lynch couldn't decide on the "tone" of the film, we are left to guess what her intentions were. I agree with other reviewers that the camerawork is extremely pretentious in a bad way and the script leaves much to be desired.
Dr. Nick Cavanagh (Julian Sands) is obsessed with the very chilly and cruel Helena (Sherilyn Fenn) after having a one night stand with her awhile back. She loathes him and wants nothing to do with him. His equally chilly and cruel mom has just passed away and left him the palatial family estate. He moves in and things go downhill for him from there.
I think if this film had been released under more subtle circumstances such as the work of a first-time filmmaker and been thought of as an experimental indie instead of commercial studio fare by the daughter of David Lynch, it would have been received more positively. The controversy may have generated audience interest in the film initially but it certainly didn't sustain it. I would argue it actually hurt the film's reception in general.
I like the idea of exploring the nature of a man's sexual obsession and his enslavement to it but like many others, I don't buy into "Boxing Helena" premise. Set mainly in this mansion of sorts, Cavanagh is Dr. Frankenstein and Helena is his "creation." Is his idealized woman one without arms and legs? Is beauty just skin deep? We never get a sense of "why" Nick is obsessed with her. He has a seemingly understanding girlfriend - why Helena over her. Additionally, Fenn's character of Helena is so underdeveloped and one-dimensional. She does okay in the part nevertheless. Sands' Nick is also at a loss as well. I'm thinking a derivative of a Norman Bates for the 1990s. With all his mother issues, you would think an intelligent man would seek a shrink asap. At least, his colleagues at the hospital should have noticed the doctor's odd behavior and institutionalized him on the spot. Poor Julian Sands - he is not a bad actor but seems to be stuck in some bad movie projects. Also, why is Art Garfunkel in this film!?!? Bill Paxton has a supporting role as Helena's studly, wannabe rocker/musician (?) boyfriend but he is also underutilized in the film except for acting out the macho man that Nick isn't apparently.
Also, one thing I did find hilarious are the extra-textual references to Sands' earlier film, Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View (1986)in which he played the enigmatic hero George Emerson who romances and wins the young heroine Lucy Honeychurch, played by actress Helena Bonham-Carter! If you watch the film, pay attention to the soundtrack and dialogue.
Is Lynch taking a stab at Merchant-Ivory's polite notion of love's passions? Maybe and may not since there isn't any guiding focus to the film.
Though highly flawed, you may want to have a look and have fun playing the critic.
Movie Review: Jennifer is not her father.
Summary: 2 Stars
Boxing Helena is one of those frustrating movies. For me, they are more painful to watch then outright bad movies, for this is not a terrible movie. It is a mediocre movie that tries with all its might to be great. Unfortunately, it just falls short. The concept makes for an interesting and pretty original story, intended to be a journey into obsessive lust. (Sands plays a man who had a *very* short affair with Helena, and cannot get his mind off of her.) Sherilyn Fenn is beautiful (as always) as Helena, and plays the part wonderfully, but unfortunately even her talent alone cannot save this movie. the script and the rest of the acting is mediocre. it seems like Sands is constantly struggling with his part (although to his credit, he doesn't do a *bad* job), and Bill Paxton and his mediocre "talent" just seem out of place and his character is rather hard to believe. Would beautiful, siren-esque, succubus Helena really date a guy with a mullet? And then there is the ending, which unfortunately was compromised upon release, but Lynch had no other option, apart from the film not being released at all. (The planned ending would have done away with the last scene and its twist. You'll see upon viewing that she had to take the "safe" route.) So, if you're a hardcore David Lynch fan, I might recommend at least one viewing of it, just to see what his daughter is capable of, (which I believe to be much more than this movie shows), but the casual viewer should probably look elswhere. I'll give this film two stars for originality, and Fenn's wonderful performance. It is ashame her talents have been ignored due to The Scarlet "L". Some will know i speak of the phenomenon well known among Lynch fans in which actors who work with him have their talents virtually ignored by Hollywood, no matter how outstanding they may be. (there are a few exceptions, mainly when the performer was already known well, in such cases as Dennis Hopper and Nicholas Cage.) David Lynch fans may also be interested in a little piece of trivia. Jennifer's favorite toy as a child was the "baby" from her father's Eraserhead, which she would play with on the set. Boxing Helena will make a lot more sense with that knowledge in mind. Summing up, I would have to say, proceed with caution. You may enjoy this movie more than I did, and if so, good for you, but just be warned that just because you see the name "Lynch" does not mean you will get the caliber you're used to.Movie Review: Bad movie with a surprise ending
Summary: 2 Stars
"Boxing Helena" is a mediocre effort from Jennifer Chambers Lynch, a close relative to David Lynch ("Blue Velvet", "Wild at Heart"). It stars Julian Sands as the prestigious, though cowardly, Dr. Nick Cavanaugh. His mother just passed away, and he returns to his mansion. Meanwhile, he sees Helena (Sherilyn Fenn), a woman he used to date. Blinded by lust, he continues to pursue her. One night, he spies on her whilst taking a jog on the street. But after seeing her make love to Ray (Bill Paxton), his reaction is primarily disgust. He soon devises an elaborate party at which Helena and his friends are invited. Helena spurns Nick, and catches the eye of Russell, one of Nick's friends. Helena leaves the party with Russell, much to Nick's chagrin. On the next day, Helena is leaving for Mexico. However, it's discovered she left her purse at Nick's house. The inevitable happens. She's lured back into his house. He tries to seduce her, but she rejects him. Then a tragic accident ensues, leaving her bedridden. To go into further detail into the plot would possibly mean spoiling a relatively surprising ending. The movie exists mostly for its graphic sexual content. It was initially given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA, and deservedly so. It was perhaps the most controversial film of 1993. It was released just a year after "Basic Instinct", which director Paul Verhoeven had to recut several times before getting an acceptable R rating. Graphic content aside, the film became notorious for Kim Basinger's arguement that the film's sex was explicit without being artful. As a movie, "Boxing Helena" often fails to deliver. It's plot is unrealisitic, and its dialogue is especially laughable. Sherilyn Fenn's Helena is portrayed as a super-bitchy temptress, while Julian Sand's Nick Cavanaugh is seen as an immoral coward. While backed by a magnificent supporting cast, including Bill Paxton as the loutish Ray, Art Garfunkel as Cavanaugh's sympathetic friend Lawrence, and aided by a soundtrack featuring such songs as Tears for Fears' "Woman in Chains", "Boxing Helena" fails on almost all critical levels.
Movie Review: Totally gutless on the follow through...
Summary: 2 Stars
Boxing Helena for me is the perfect example of potential-wasting, gutless filmmaking. Warning, spoilers follow. Philippe Caland and Jennifer Lynch presented a genuinely interesting and bold plot, that of a masochistic, mother-obsessed doctor (Nick) who desperately latches onto Helena, a beautiful temptress who wants nothing to do with him. Nick, after having inherited his mother's palatial estate and running into Helena in a bar, decides to throw an impromptu house warming party as cover for inviting Helena into his home where she yet again rebuffs his advances. Nick then lures her back to his house where she is accidentally hit by a car and has her legs horrible crushed. Being a brilliant surgeon, Nick manages to save her life though he amputates both of her legs, and it's at this point that the film becomes both remarkable and lackluster at the same time.
Jennifer Lynch, daughter of filmmaker David Lynch, seems as if she's taking a page out of her father's surreal dream-logic filmmaking book as Nick keeps Helena prisoner and begins to slowly and literally deconstruct Helena limb by limb until she's truly an object of his desire. Helena, on the other hand, spends her time digging into Nick's psyche, taunting his manhood and in a very demented twist, falling in love with him, I believe based purely on his desire for her, which transcends physical beauty (something she is used to men fawning over.) Unfortunately this second act is severely hampered by pointless complexity (in terms of the number of characters in the film) and some very forced and unconvincing performances (namely by Bill Paxton who's trying his best to invoke his character Sevren from Near Dark and Sherilyn Fenn whose stoicism is almost laughable.)
Though the acting is generally bad and the directing generic, the plot would save this otherwise mundane film, but this to is thrashed by a very trite and gutless third act that ends with an ambiguous twist ending, which implies that the entire second act was either a hallucination or a dream. 2 stars for the plot, but only two because it was handled terribly.
Movie Review: Jennifer is a David Lynch Wannabe.
Summary: 2 Stars
Viewed: 10/10
Rate: 3
10/10: Since the premise of Boxing Helena mostly takes place in a dream, where is the controversy? How stupid of the critics. Anyone can imagine anything in her/his dream. That's why it's called a dream. Anyway, the movie is terrible and boring. It reeked too much of David Lynch wannabe. Understandably, it was in the hands of her daughter, but ever heard of originality? That's David Lynch's style and nobody else's. Eventually, her career rightfully fell apart. The acting by the cast was all right, and nobody really made a difference. The story and the pacing were the major problems; it was just not interesting, and things moved slow for me. Sherilyn Fenn, more recognizable for her work in Two Moon Junction, seems to have the knack for this type of films, so I guess the genre suits her very well. It depends on the director for maximizing her potential. Julian Sands, usually a better actor than he was in this dreck, couldn't save it either. Bill Paxton looked like a fool with that silly hairdo and muscle shirts. Can you say "overacting?" I knew the movie fell apart as soon as I saw the aftermath of the truck accident with Helena. There is just absolutely no way anyone could have survived that without proper medical care including I.V.s, blood transfusion, and all the fancy hospital equipments. Another part that mystified me about Julian Sands' character was the ear mold in his ear. Was that a bad Marlon Brando trick where he tries to receive his lines from an assistant? Also, it is just hard for me to accept that given Julian Sands' looks, he couldn't be able to score with many women as good looking as he. That's also why Boxing Helena fell apart for me. The aspects of the story never got put together in a sensible way for me; there was a lot of revelations about Dr. Cavanaugh, but no explanations. Instead, they all became random characteristics. Meanwhile, the only good thing going for the film is that it had a nice cinematography, already too typical of David Lynch films. I guess the daughter used his usual crew? All in all, Boxing Helena didn't work that well for me.