Downloading Nancy

obviously has some talent attached, Maria Bello is always great. but this is just a dreary wast of time, portraying every character as someone to be loathed and exploited so someone could make a movie out of an 'interesting' story. well, i hope they got it out of their systems. unfortunately for the audience, there is no insight, no sensitivity, no context, and really no humanity. which would all be fine, except it has no humor, no horror, no context, and nothing constructive to say about the story it's trying to tell. bad things happen, you sit and watch it, you don't care, so what? 99% of the time, the words 'based on a true story' constitute an unintentional warning to the audience. it means the director and screenwriter are lazy and fascinated by some events they heard about somewhere, so they just throw them up on the screen and expect the 'true' nature of the story to make the audience feel something without the filmmakers having to do any of the work. i hope they had a great time making this movie. it stinks on ice.

The question is, Is this film worth watching? Of course it is, if for nothing else but to see Maria Bello's Indy Award nominated performance. Don't let the fact that it went straight to video dissuade you.

It is not a pretty movie. Watching the effects of child sexual abuse never is. Watching someone engage in self-mutilation to mask the pain is, in a word, painful.

Bello (A History of Violence, The Cooler) was, of course, perfect for the role. Rufus Sewell played the husband, who was more of an enigma. It was never clear whether he was just a jerk who was obsessed with golf, or if 15 years of marriage to Nancy (Bello) just wore him down.

Nancy finds Louis (Jason Patric), someone on the Internet she wants to kill her. They end up having a relationship, if you want to call it that.

In the end, I am not sure whether he kills her or whether she kills herself. It really doesn't matter. It was a dark, twisted film with very little music and washed out cinematography. It set the mood, but it is easy to see why this film would get no buyers at Sundance.

People don't go to the movies to get more depressed, and this one will do just that.

None of the reviews mentioned this movie being based on true events; a noteworthy fact given the disturbing storyline... The film is definitely not for everyone. It's about deeply troubled people & is VERY dark & very cold, made even more so by the meticulous art direction, camera work & editing.

The cast is terrific, with a heartbreaking performance by Maria Bello who tackles her character with perfect emotional tone and tempo. It's a tough role precisely because it's so disturbing, and if overacted or otherwise played wrong, the character could become unlikeable, maudlin or self-indulgent. Bello manages to be none of these things.

I didn't find the sex scenes gratuitous, or as one critic called it, "S&M soft-porn". In fact I felt the scenes were appropriately restrained. And there were many tender moments & much pathos throughout the film, including in some of the s&m scenes.

As for the question of why Nancy simply didn't leave the marriage, she herself explains this when confronted by Louis with the same question. This is not the story of a woman with normal problems, marital or otherwise. This is the story of a woman who as a child was sexually abused by her uncle for a long time. And her mother exacerbated that emotional damage by blaming Nancy for the abuse. Typical of many sexual abuse victims, Nancy translated the abuse into "being loved", which compelled her to long for it in subsequent relationships. The therapy she finally seeks is too-little/too-late for someone with her type & degree of disturbance.

I was okay with the ending & am glad they didn't decide to lighten things up & make it more commercially viable by going for a "happy ending" & having Nancy live happily ever after w/ Louis. That would be too Hollywood. In real life, some people simply can't overcome the pain of such prolonged and heinous abuse & end up choosing death over life as the ultimate release from unbearable pain...

~NN

The film has a different, thought-provoking and bold theme and this is a promising point. But choosing the subject of all cinema. This film has a problem with the narrative and this is a neural and superficial film. It is acceptable to show it at the Sundance Festival, but it is a question for me to be nominated for the jury and I would like to know the reason. This movie is based on the true story of Sharon Lopatka , who was killed in 1996. Belo has worked hard in the role of Nancy. In fact, the character of Nancy is based on the character of Sharon Lopatka which happened 12 years after that.

Something dark looms over this movie: Nancy's plan. For a long time, we don't know what it is, but it can't be good. Nancy (Maria Bello) is a pain junkie, the self-destructive kind: no pain, no gain. Maria Bello, she's good. This is her movie. The way she carries herself, the way she walks and the way she talks all radiate defeat. Maria Bello has a nice, articulate voice. But when Nancy speaks in that same voice, it doesn't matter what she says. The way she says it says it all. Nancy rarely smiles, and it's a pretty desperate smile, mostly reserved for her luckless therapist. Against hope, I found myself hoping for better days, but they never break. Nancy takes off to Baltimore. "Who has friends in Baltimore?", her helpless husband finds himself wondering. He's right. Nobody does. Nancy doesn't. She doesn't have friends. Not in Baltimore, not anywhere. She's not the type. - The script jumps back and forth in time, to unsettling effect. If you liked "Chasing Sleep" or "Breaking the Waves", this might be for you, but I'm not sure it's for anyone. There's not a ray of light in it, but I guess that's what life is like for the likes of Nancy.