Bug (Special Edition)
by William Friedkin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ashley Judd, Brian F. O'Byrne, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins, Michael ShannonDirector: William Friedkin
Brand: Lions Gate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
Published: 2007-09-01
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Actors: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins, Brian F. O'Byrne.
- Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC.
- Language: English.
- Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
- Rated R. Run Time: 102 minutes.
Movie Reviews of Bug (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Burrows deep into your skin and unleashes real human fear...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a feeling that I may break down in tears during this years Oscar nominations ceremony, for as much as I'd love to have faith in the Academy to `do the right thing' I strongly feel that Ashley Judd's brilliant performance is going to ultimately get the snub. To say that she doesn't deserve the win let alone the nomination is to not have really seen this film for all that it truly is. Ashley Judd's performance is her career best, a desperate and broken spirit that permeates the entire film and haunts the viewer more than anything else pertaining to this film. In fact, the most disturbing thing about `Bug' is the fact that it will most likely receive little to no awards attention. I'm getting chills just thinking about it.
I think the first thing anyone needs to know about `Bug' is that it is not, and I mean `NOT' a horror film in the essence that it is jumpy and intense and consistently frightening but it is in it's own way jumpy and intense and consistently frightening. `Bug' is a film about the darkest corners of the human mind and the fact that we will allow ourselves to believe anything if it completes a part of our soul. I feel that this film suffered from misleading advertisement that painted it as this horrifically scary film when it is in most regards a slow moving physiological drama. There are lots of scenes of pure communication as we watch these peoples minds gradually deteriorate into the hopeless paranoia they find themselves engulfed in. In fact the bulk of the gore in the film is self inflicted, the majority taking place off screen.
Based on the play by Tracy Letts, `Bug' follows the lonely Agnes White who is in hiding from her abusive ex-husband Jerry. Jerry has just been released from prison and is planning on taking back up where he left off with Agnes, but she isn't having that. Instead she's moved on to another man, the mysterious and reclusive Peter. Agnes and Peter lock themselves away in a small motel room and it's there that they slowly go insane. Peter, a war veteran, has already lost most of it. He is convinced that the government is after him, that they conducted experiments on him and that they planted bugs under his skin. Before long Agnes's own loneliness and desperation lead her to believe him and she soon begins to see the bugs that are not really there.
The film rarely leaves the confines of the motel room and this aids in the feeling of claustrophobia. I remember feeling this way when I watched last years `The Descent', that feeling of breathless anxiety. Although the viewer never sees a single insect there are moments when you can swear they are everywhere. This is thanks in large part to the commanding direction by William Friedkin who completely understands the objective of his subject and exploits it beautifully.
To me the bugs are clearly a metaphor for the `bugs' or `kinks' in the human mind. These two people are sick. Their minds do not function properly. They haven't had the `bugs' worked out so-to-speak and thus suffer from delusions and serious deficiencies that those around them cannot understand. The scary thing about `Bug' is that this is not really an exaggeration of these issues. These types of things happen more frequently then one would think. The human mind is no where near as full proof as one might like to think and truly anyone is susceptible to the downward spiral of insanity. The worst part about it all is that one never knows they are insane.
Ashley Judd gives, for me at least, the finest performance of anyone in any category so far this year. Her grasp of Agnes is brutally convincing and extremely sympathetic. Like a child she defends the man she feels connected to, the only man who's given her the kind of attention's she's longed for. Her slip into paranoia is painfully heart breaking to watch to the point that I was moved to tears especially in the final scenes. Her facial expression as her whole world incinerates before her is enough to make my heart break into a thousand pieces. If there is a god then Ashley Judd's name will be called proceeded by "and the Oscar goes to" come March (or whenever the Oscar's are held this coming year).
The other performances in the film are decently entertaining, with the exception of Harry Connick Jr. who is surprisingly outstanding. I am not a fan of Harry and I was not looking forward to him being in this film but I was floored to find myself loving his performance. He was comical, aggressive, charismatic and believable. I would also consider his name in the supporting actor category AMPA's, seriously. I was less impressed with Michael Shannon who reprised his stage role as Peter Evans. His performance was not bad but it failed to deliver any real spark. Judd was just so impressive and Connick Jr. was just so commanding that Shannon seemed to fall to the background for me even though he was in just about every frame. Lynn Collins was wonderful as R.C. and would have been even better had she possessed a little more screen time. What she does with what she's given is very impressive.
If you're looking for a film that will scare the pants off you in a general gore filled heart racing kind of way then this is not the film you want to pick up, but if you want to be slowly driven to the brink of insanity by watching the lives of two people slowly unravel then this is the movie for you. In fact, I think it's even more horrifying to watch something this tragically real then to embrace something that is completely fictitious and ultimately unbelievable.
Summary of Bug (Special Edition)
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