Du venin dans les veines

One of the funniest films from this year! High camp; too bad the direction's so dull that after an hour even the funny bits get drowned out by the tedium. This is the kind of movie that tries to build suspense by having every character act as stupid and inattentive to the obvious as possible.

Jessica Lange does a lot of eye-rolliing, neck-straining and incessant smoking as the wealthy gargoyle mother who has it in for innocent dumbbell daughter in law Gwyneth Paltrow. Jonathan Schaech plays a piece of wood who occasionally stumbles into a scene with other characters. You know Lange's supposed to be evil because she smokes, drinks and has an inexplicable Southern accent (in upstate New York?). The film sports two endings (don't worry, no spoilers here!!!), the first of which is guffaw-inducing just because it's medically not possible, and a final showdown which is incredibly dull and comes out of nowhere. Lots of bad dialogue and far-fetched plot "developments" carry the viewer to the bitter end.

Allegedly this film was held up for massive re-shoots and edits for a whole year. One hopes for a "director's cut" just so we can see what could have been even worse than this hilarious nonsense. Recommended!!!

Jackson Baring takes his girlfriend Helen to his family's horse farm Kilronin. Jackson's mother Martha has been running the place but would like her son to take over. Jackson and Helen are living together in New York City and are reluctant to leave that life. But Helen somehow gets pregnant, even though she was using birth control, and the two get married and eventually do take over the farm.

Jackson blames himself for his father's death when he was 7. Martha knows the truth but won't tell him, and she seems to have an unnatural relationship with her son. It's almost as if she sees his father and wants to be with him in that way. And she sees the baby as a means of continuing the legacy, but not a child to be loved, at least not in the way most people would. Her treatment of Helen is strange, as if Helen is only useful until the baby is born, and then she will be in the way.

The ending is exciting and sort of creepy at the same time.

Jessica Lange does a fine job here as Jackson's overly controlling and demented mother. However, Nina Foch gives the standout performance as Jackson's grandmother, who is kept in a fancy nursing home because only she knows the truth about how her son died.

I think all the leading actors did a good job here. I usually can't stand Debi Mazar, who was a co-worker to Helen and possibly her boss, but I would like to have seen more of her here. But if Helen had to move out of New York, I guess keeping her job was out of the question.

I suppose my favorite scene was the one where Helen gets out of bed naked and meets her mother-in-law for the first time. That one was edited for TV in such a way it seemed kind of jerky and I didn't get to see much, but a lot depends on how one sees this movie.

It's not typical of what I like in a movie, but still entertaining.

If you take it for what it is,a feast of camp,then this movie (and particularly Lange) is much fun to watch.Probably influenced by Davis's (see "hush hush sweet Charlotte") and Crawford's end of career ( see "straitjacket"),Jessica Lange gives an over the top performance of the bitchiest mother-in-law you can think of.Always a beaming smile on her face even when she 's at her most sadistic.Her bubble head son seems not to have overcome his Oedipus complex;when at the turning of the year,"Auld lang syne" is played,he dances with his mom.As for the wedding ,he seems to marry her. Besides,being able to lead a normal life

after what we learned from his "education" is hard to believe ;a boy like him would have normally ended up like cousin Sebastian in "Suddenly last Summer".

This extravaganza has also intellectual pretensions:in the church ,Martha keeps on reciting her act of contrition while quoting the Ruth Book in the Bible;in her troubled mind ,her unfortunate daughter-in-law becomes Ruth ,whose affection to mother-in-law Naomi reflects her own situation.

If you're not a highbrow,and if you like old-fashioned cheesy melodramas "Hush" is made for you.If you're a "pulp fiction" fan,well,please pass by.

I've just finished watching this movie and the only thing I can think is "I should have done anything else in those 90 something minutes." What was that? I can't even say the plot wasn't OK because there was no plot at all. And how about the preview, full of shots that are not on the film, and give the wrong impression about it. How come Jessica Lange got involved in something like that? Was she in debt with someone?

"Hush" is the kind of film that's so easy that it should work right on the first view but it's not the case. I remember watching it a few years ago and finding one of the most boring things I've ever seen except for the outstanding acting of Jessica Lange. Fate pulls its strings sometimes and one of those nights when you're desperate for something to show up on TV and there you go, there was this and I got a little gripped into seeing it again, this time paying more attention to details. Well, it turned out to be quite a good film, undeserving the low rating that is getting now.

A twisted and thrilling tale about acceptance and skeletons in the closet? You can say that. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the lovable Helen, a successful and beautiful woman, loved by a man who's also both of the fore-mentioned qualities, the great Jackson (Johnathon Schaech) of the powerful Baring family. But he has a mother, the surprising Martha (Jessica Lange) of whom Helen always tries to please to the best since Jackson and his mom has some strong bonds between them and she wants to be part of this quite perfect family. Habitual to flicks of the same caliber, there's secrets, tension between both women and a certain disdain the old lady feels for the younger and it's up to Helen to discover what's the problem with the Baring family. Her only great ally is Jackson's grandmother (Nina Foch, excellent), father of Martha's late husband, and keeper of some family secrets that can storm a big mess in everyone's lives.

There isn't much to be said about "Hush" except that the cast is great, even though they're not at their greatest moment. Except Lange and Foch who are brilliant, and the memorable special appearance of Hal Holbrook as the doctor. But it's Lange who steals the show playing a pitiful villain, sometimes adorable, other times really cruel but most of the time always in control of the situation. The plot should include more characters to make this more tense and less concentrated in those three main characters. The relationship between Jackson and Martha could've go to more controversial ways, cause everything seems to indicate that (the scene where he's covered in mud and she cleans him, they're like pretending it's just a silly joke. There's something going on there).

I know Jonathan Darby has directed better films (like the criminally underrated and almost forgotten "The Enemy Within" with Forest Whitaker) but what he makes here is quite good, never cheap and at the most entertaining to watch for its cast and the beautiful cinematography. 8/10