Compulsão Assassina

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. I was exhausted from work and felt like watching a predictable horror movie. This is not at all a thriller or a horror movie. It is actually an interesting buddy film between two damaged women who crave what they can't have--love. One tries to find fulfillment through cooking and baking and serving gourmet meals, compulsively nurturing, and another who is desperate for a nurturer, a bulimic who is unable to eat. It is visually very interesting. Amy (Heather Graham, whom I thought was fantastic)and her TV dreams are reminiscent of Nicole Kidman and TO DIE FOR; the bright colors of her dress against the sterile white fake TV set contrast with dark, dreary tones of her idol and then friend Saffron (Moss). I really enjoyed the lush, gorgeous meals Amy created, at first trying to woo Saffron as a friend and then, sensing Saffron's despondency and loneliness much like her own, attempting to sustain her through food and create some kind of sensuous joy for her. The ending makes this a black comedy, if one needs to label it. The writing is clunky and personally I would have enjoyed seeing a couple more scenes showing development of this friendship but filling in the blanks is fun, too.

The story of two disturbed women whose lives end up intertwining. Or to be precise, one obsessive and possibly delusional woman and another who simply has had a hard life. When the psychotic of the two, Amy, develops a fascination with her reclusive neighbour, Saffron, she shows it through trying to push her love of food on to her. What follows is a rather bizarre but intriguing series of events.

A great aspect of this film is that I believe it's open to interpretation. Amy clearly doesn't have the tightest grip on reality, in fact we are often shown glimpses into her head where an imaginary audience is cheering her on. Combine this with the plot and characters going in the strangest of directions and the sceptical comments of a particular other character and the film raises the question of how much of it is in Amy's head and how much of it is simply events going in such a unique way.

Admittedly, this film is probably a bit of an acquired taste(ha, get it). It's labelled a thriller, which is partly true but the vast majority of it is a character study. If you like analysing the mindsets of flawed characters, this film is for you. Worth re-watching if you want to look at things from a different angle.

'Compulsion' focuses on Heather Graham's character 'Amy', a woman obsessed with cooking, who gets by seducing wealthy men with her looks and her food. It could sound like a typical Heather Graham role, but it's not. This is a Graham we have not seen before, and she is altogether delightful. The plot is simple: a detective is investigating the disappearance of Amy's next door neighbor 'Saffron' played by Carrie-Anne Moss a reclusive former child star, and we see the relationship of Amy and Saffron develop in retrospect.

It is not a fast paced film, but like a fine meal the performances are there to be savored, in small bites, taken in slowly to relish each nuance.

First of all, let me just start out by saying that this movie is slow, unbelievably slow. And the 88 minutes that the movie ran for seemed much, much longer.

The story told in "Compulsion" had its moments, but it was overall weighed down by things taking too long. There were so many scenes that just dragged on for way too long, where the movie would have benefited from a trim and a notch up in pace.

"Compulsion" is about Amy (played by Heather Graham) who is obsessed about gourmet cooking and dreaming about getting her own cooking show on TV. All she cares about is her cooking and her food, desperately seeking approval in her cooking from her boyfriend/husband (?) Fred (played by Kevin Dillon). However, her compulsive obsession drives him away, and instead she starts to cook for her reclusive neighbor Saffron (played by Carrie-Anne Moss).

It should be said that the people in the movie were doing good jobs in acting, however, the characters were really odd. And I personally didn't really find much enjoyment in these characters, because they were all a bit too eccentric and out there. But thumbs up to the actors and actresses, because they did good jobs.

This slow paced thriller might not be suitable for just anyone, and I was tempted to get up and find something else to watch a couple of times throughout the 88 (long) minutes. But I stuck with it to the end, hoping that there might just be a change for the better just around the corner. But that was not to be...

I am rating "Compulsion" a mere 3 out of 10 stars, simply because the actors and actresses held the movie afloat, the rest of the movie - especially the storyline itself - was just downright boring and tedious.

This is really two movies which have been hacked apart and sewn back together--like Frankenstein's monster, but with vital parts left out. It could have been a pretty funny black comedy if it had simply played out the character of Amy (Heather Graham). Or it could have been a darkly tragic story of a ruined life with Saffron (Carrie-Anne Moss). Instead, it can't decide what it wants to be, tries to do both, and fails at both. It never strikes any sort of real balance, lurching from low-key comedy to emotionally wrenching child abuse. Near the end, the characters' alliance seems grafted together, rather than natural, relying upon what I can only call a denouement gimmick to close things out. All of the actors do well with their parts. I particularly enjoyed Heather Graham when her character was indulging in her flights of fancy. Carrie-Anne Moss gives everything, but really ought to be in a better movie than this. I know nothing of the Korean original, but surely it was better done than this remake. I give as many as 5 stars because the actors try hard, Heater Graham is a feast for the eyes, and there is some yummy food preparation.