I bought this DVD at a local shop for no real good reason, except I like indie films. Although I didn't believe it was a total failure, it wasn't a great movie, either.
Theo is a photographer (not pro, but does it as a hobby) living in Brooklyn with his fiancee, Nat (unsure of her occupation, but she plays the guitar). They are soon-to-be-married. While Theo is doing wedding snapshots, he is asked by an anonymous woman, via e-mail, to voyeuristically photograph her. Theo becomes obsessed with this woman, and, in the meanwhile, he begins to distance himself from his soon-to-be-wife. As his relationship falls apart, he begins to find out who this anonymous woman is. No more story from me...
I was not expecting a huge blockbuster, well-made film classic when I bought this DVD. It is not that badly acted, and the cinematography was okay (a bit dark, but that is for effect). My problems came from certain plots and scenes: 1) The "anonymous woman" is nearly Hitchcockian in element, by not execution. Who she is is predictable; 2) The entire hospital scene. My wife is a physician, so she was laughing at the lack of intelligence in the scenes. For instance, Nat supposedly has a really bad infection (NO, not an STD!) and those who visit her are supposed to wear latex gloves. The gloves magically disappear in the scenes AND both she and Theo touch skin in other places like arms, faces, etc. Sloppy!; and 3) There is something phoney about the entire relationship between Nat and Theo that I cannot really understand. The relationship and oncoming marriage seems to be doomed from the first few scenes with them together. She seems to be understanding, but unwilling to compromise or communicate. Theo spends more time wanting freedom, but has it in so many ways and comes across as a "dufus." I may be missing something here, but their meshing doesn't seem quite real, but the other relationships that parallel their relationship show the problems and tribulations that all types of relationships face, none of which are reflected upon by either main character.
Perhaps Theo is just getting "the jitters" from all of the talk and being a third party to all of the other relationships around him that he finds his own hum-drum existence dull. This is what makes the story interesting, but his character is passive when it comes to the other relationships, except the one he obsesses about (the "blonde").
I did like the soundtrack and the independent filmmaking style, but thought the movie could be a little more original and less sloppy. I've seen much worse movies about relationships, and worse Hitchcock-inspired stories. I was not expecting much, and it was somewhat better than my expectations. Whether others want to see it, well, I question that they will totally like or enjoy it. It has its dark elements of obsession and questioning love, but other viewers will probably find the same problems as I did, making it more tedious.
3 of 5 (it would deserve another 1/2 from me if it weren't for the hospital scenes). It does NOT have nudity or violence, but some sexual situations, language, and adult situations. The cover is like a book and there are some supplemental material on the disc, none of which changes my rating.
