Before it takes a sudden turn and devolves into a bizarre sort of romantic comedy, Steven Shainberg's adaptation of Mary Gaitskill's harrowing short story about dominance, submission and the twisted sexual dynamics of the workplace is a brilliantly played, deeply unsettling experience. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is fresh out of the sanitarium but still unable to keep her obsessive compulsion to cut herself in check; it seems just about any encounter with her drunken, overbearing father (Stephen McHattie) has her reaching for the sharp little sewing scissors and the iodine. Egged on by her coddling and equally overbearing mother (Lesley Ann Warren), Lee takes a ...
Released:
2002
Rated:
R
Length:
111 mins