Sharp Stick

I watched Sharp Stick as an in-flight movie so not at optimal picture quality, but it was still a reasonably enjoyable movie.

The main problem is the age and character of the main protagonist. As another reviewer commented, it seems as though she was written as a much younger character, but made older in the final script (possibly to avoid offending current paranoia/social mores?) It isn't really credible that any woman in her mid-twenties, living in LA, wouldn't have heard of basic intimate acts. Particularly with a very sassy, savvy sister.

There is a lot of intimate action in this, though in terms of nudity it's not explicit. I thought the first scenes were well done, but the central plot of adultery was somewhat brushed aside along with the husband and wife. Why she later does what she does - extreme behaviour/acts for anyone - didn't seem very realistic.

I did enjoy Scott Speedman as adult actor Vance. Luka Sabbat was also very good, although the final "happy ending" (not intended as a pun though I suppose it could be!) wasn't convincing, and was odd. I didn't feel the animated sequences really fit the tone of the rest of the movie.

But all in all it's interesting and certainly worth a view on a long haul flight.

There's a lot of Lena Dunham haters out there, but I'm actually not one of them, even though I think she's not as clever a writer as she seems to think she is. Nevertheless, I enjoyed TINY FURNITURE, I thought GIRLS was a worthwhile show, her direction of the INDUSTRY pilot was strong. All I'm doing here is establishing that I can be objective about Dunham's work...

Okay...so SHARP STICK. I did not enjoy it. It is a character study of a naive, but damaged young woman named Sarah Jo. She's a 26-year old virgin who had to have a hysterectomy in high school. (My wife endured a similar ordeal, although somewhat later in life, so that part of the story moved me.) But the way Sarah Jo is written came off as completely false to me. Her journey of sexual discovery would have been more interesting if we the audience could determine what exactly of value she learned about herself? She has a dysfunctional blended family that we learn almost nothing about. Why are they the way they are? Is that really Jennifer Jason Leigh and what is she doing here? The sex scenes aren't sexy, the scenes that should be comedic are flat or just plain baffling and at the end of the movie it felt like Dunham thought she had made some grand statement about female sexuality and personal discovery, but I was just confused and kind of grossed out. Skip this if it shows up on your Hulu home page.

Because Jon Bernthal, I watched this film, when I saw its rating, I hesitated for a long time. But I still gathered my courage and opened it. After watching it, my mind was greatly shocked. I simply couldn't believe what I had seen. This film exuded a strange and uncomfortable feeling from beginning to end. Just a few minutes into it, I felt extremely tortured - the plot was incomprehensible, a complete mess, and chaotic... I don't understand why Kristine Froseth acted like this. She made me feel uncomfortable, making her look either stupid or mentally challenged. But I believe she's not that bad. And Lena Dunham, could you please get out of the frame? Her acting was terrible, and I don't want to see her on screen anymore. Jon gave a decent performance and showed off his physique. To my surprise, Ebon was also in this film.

There were too many parts of this film that I couldn't understand, making me want to quickly find some other good movies to cleanse my eyes.

(I wrote the review in Chinese, but the website doesn't allow me to send it in Chinese, so I used a translator to translate it into English)

In writer/director Lena Dunham's edgy, original, cheap indie "Sharp Stick" quietly on-the-spectrum care-worker Kristine Froseth lives in Hollywood with hippy-dippy single mum Jennifer Jason Leigh & wannabe internet sensation sis Taylor Paige (the rising star so good again). At 26 virgin Froseth suddenly undergoes a sexual awakening, first via simple Jon Bernthal (hubbie of Dunham, the parents of the Down Syndrome lad Froseth cares for) then thru various strangers she uses to tick off a check-list built thru watching porn (!) particularly her fave adult-star Scott Speedman. It's certainly out there, with meaning unclear, but is well-cast, original, watchable fare.

The good: beautiful photography, with really good actors performing well and delivering dialogues that are truly good. So what's wrong with it then?

The bad: the leading actress (however good an actress she might be) over acts. She acts way too naive to be believable. Perhaps others wont mind this at all. But I got annoyed by this and I couldnt get into the story anymore...

More bad: there isnt really much of a story to begin with though. No real drama. It's more of a slowburning portrait of a girl coming of age in experiencing her first love romances.

It's too touchy feely sentimental for my taste. And (again) the leading actress OVER acts, which is such a pity, because this movie had much going for it potentially....