88% Martha Marcy May Marlene

What saves Martha Marcy May Marlene (barely) for me were two pitch perfect performances in newcomer Elizabeth Olsen as Martha and actor John Hawkes as Patrick. Olsen is the perfect manifestation of slowly building paranoia in Martha. At one moment she appears to be at ease, another moment she is wildly unstable. It's a stunning achievement and it definitely captures the audiences' attention and draws you into her struggle. As the enigmatic leader, John Hawkes is a malevolent force that induces dread. He's quiet, but commanding. As the man in charge, he leads by instilling fear. An uncomfortable incident in the forest has Patrick trying to convince Martha to shoot at a dying cat. Then when unable to do so, he commands her to fire at one of the males in the group. Yet it's never clear why these kids don't simply leave. It's not hard to see why this has earned raves. In this day and age, a good performance is enough to hype a film and there's several here.It's the acting that elevates this feature. I was sufficiently connected to truly care what happens to Martha. It's a smart, well acted character study, just not a rewarding one. True to the nature of the script, the very last scene remains irritatingly cryptic. After it was over I actually thought the projectionist had forgotten to load a reel of film. I can fill in the blanks, but as the culmination of everything we have witnessed before, it's far from a satisfying resolution. Throughout the drama, the pacing is so deliberate, it's inert. You won't realize it until the picture is over, but it's an exercise in frustration. I'm convinced a great movie exists in there...somewhere.

November 7, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/martha_marcy_may_marlene/

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