Compulsion

We watched it last night, and honestly, it wasn't that bad. I've seen a lot worse. The premise was a bit weak, the acting was average, and the story was transparent. It was almost like a characterture of what the real movie would have been. It hard to explain, but everything was over done, colours, costumes, scenery, acting, basically everything. That is what gave it a "pass" to be a mediocre movie. You can get away with it, because it's supposed to be campy.

I would recommend a rental if you want zombie out in front of the TV for 88 minutes. It's mildly entertaining and the two female leads are pretty enough to keep you interested.

The production was fine. The quality edit, colour correction, lighting correction and so on was done well.

A lot of people worked hard to make this film, so I applaud them for it. Nice work, decent product and no time wasted in production.

It's not a compelling movie, but it's a movie. A simple, nice, different kind of film. Recommended when you want to do nothing.

This movie will probably stay with me for a while. Heather Grahm was beautiful in the movie and really made me feel for her characters. I was dreading that the movie was going to turn into a predictable girl gone crazy movie because I really like the characters of Amy. Luckily this film had more depth. One of the most disturbing things about the film is the cards that Amy is dealt in her life. I may be a bit biased because I'm a huge foodie like the characters so I really enjoyed that aspect of it as well.. The one thing I will say is this movie may not be for everyone. Hardcore horror fans may not appreciate the slow paced drama but at the same time drama lovers may not appreciate the macabre aspect of the film. I won't say much more but if you like simple yet disturbing movies is recommend this one

'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.

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.