Excess Flesh

A horror film dealing with eating disorders and mental illness. This one has a young lady named Jill who has given up on life and has let herself go in every aspect. Never bothering to work or even wash she just hangs around the house cooking or eating. She gets the odd Skype call from her alcoholic mother who doesn't appear to have all her buttons. Jill stays with a roommate who is her exact opposite and works as a model. Jill hits her breaking point after a fight and chains up her roommate in the bathroom kicking the film into gear.

This film is like a food porn. Its repulsive for sure when you get the close ups of chewed food in someone's mouth or food all over there face and all over there clothes but that is what you get here. The director liked doing trippy sequences in vivid colour of Gummy Worms, cakes and Pop Tarts being chewed, smashed and spit out. The place where they lived has never been cleaned and you can just imagine the vileness. It was just a disgusting film and I liked it.

The music in this one is superb. The same dude that did Starry Eyes music did this one. The dream sequences were well shot as well. You might get perturbed with the ending but not too bad overall. If you don't get grossed out watching people eat with there mouths open all the time you'll be able to watch this one.

For not the right reasons I might add. And I'm not talking about this being one of the few reviews of mine that have been deleted. As you can see though I'm not entire alone with my opinion on the movie. Still from the top I do think this has a more than fine idea and storyline. Apart from those who may not like movies "sprinkled" or filled entirely with social critisicm, they may have issues already with the movie. But everyone else may not just be intrigued by this.

And that is where I have to say that the movie fails. And it is not so much the grotesque and quite visceral/graphic nature of it all (though you should not be too squeamish about these things either). It is about how the story evolves and how it is edited together. Stretching the viewer patience to the point it'll break for most. Not to mention the incredible straining characters (actor choices/dialog) that you'll either endure to get to the "good parts" or just plain will be annoyed by it ... So well intended but very flawed to say the least

It's too bad because from watching the preview it looked good. It's very misleading. Seems like they tried too hard to make an "artsy" movie (lots of unnecessary slow motion, close ups and over exaggerated noises). It's a shame because it could've been a really good psychological thriller. I can say that the actresses were somewhat good. Both were annoying and I believe that was their goal in this movie. The downside was, I didn't care about what happened to either of them. They never pulled me in enough to root for one or the other. If you are into slow burning thrillers that have a big time indie feel to them and fall short at the end, you may like this. To me it was a complete waste of time.

This intimate look at the burgeoning relationship between two formerly platonic female friends is as much a warm love letter to the city of Los Angeles, seen through the lens of its delightful culinary traditions, as it is a tale is of finding love right where you least expect it — at home, in the kitchen... and the bedroom. From the opening, where roommate Jennifer awkwardly tries to compliment friend and roommate Jill ("You're not fat"), to the soulful kiss they openly share at the end, the evolution of these two reluctant partners' relationship as they fall inexorably into each others' arms is a heartwarming tale you'll remember at least though dinner.

Director Patrick Kineally, who has at least seen a music video, prods the story along like a pirate with a cutlass prodding you off the plank with amusing cut scenes featuring off-the- wall tertiary characters, like the nosy across-the-hall neighbor with her nonstop cavalcade of charmingly inappropriate, overdone gifts, or the handsome boyfriend with an apparent heart of gold who lives only to spread love as far and wide as he can.

The ultimate affect is a dizzying series of vignettes showcasing the growing connection of these two women, a tour-de-farce grounded in the the ingenious device of one's love of cooking without eating and the other's of eating without cooking, as it spins towards a glorious, triumphal act of love and conciliation as warm, beautiful, and crazy as the City of Angels itself.

Tear open a bag of Doritos and watch it with someone you love.

I have mixed feelings about this film.

The acting is good and the basis of the story is good. But the execution of bringing them together with technical aspects of film making lets it down and they just don't work together nicely in a smoothly coherent way.

There are lingering scenes which linger for no reason. They go on too long after the point has been made and don't really flow into the next scene too well.

I found at times there were some scene cuts that could have done with a little more visual explanation to flow - rather than abruptly jump from one concept to another.

This could have been a very good film if a bit more care had been taken in telling the story. I am sure it made sense in the crew's mind but they didn't relay it to the audience.

The acting was good - especially the two lead females.

Such a shame.