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Title: Overrated and overhyped
Review: Halle Berry is a beautiful woman and a good actress, but she didn't deserve an Oscar for this one. Billy Bob Thornton, alas, lacks both good looks and acting talent. But they are not what's really wrong with this depressing piece of cinema. (What is good is Peter Boyle as Billy Bob's dad, more of a Monster than Boyle's best known role.)Where did the idea originate that excessively long scenes of simulated sex are entertaining? Especially when punctuated with all sorts of morbid violence. I suppose this is "realism." Give me escapism any time. Speaking of which, Berry's orgasms are no where near as well done as Meg Ryan's in "When Harry Met Sally."And neither Berry's nor Thornton's characters were consistent. An altogether unpleasant film. As it happens I had just watched "The Shawshank Redemption" a few nights earlier...similar subject matter, considerably better handled.
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