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Old 07-10-2004, 10:57 AM
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Stingy Jack Stingy Jack is offline
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Review: Love Object

(To the tune of the Brady Bunch theme)

It's the story
Of a man named Kenneth
Who bought himself a life-sized rubber doll
He made it look just like
A girl he worked with
He gave the doll his all

Here's the story
Of a girl named Lisa
Who works with Kenneth writing techno books
She fell in love with him
They started dating
He had her in his hooks

Until the one day when this Lisa saw this dolly
Then she knew that she was really in a bind
She flew the coop
But Kenneth kept obsessing
That's about the time this poor boy lost his mind

He lost his mind
(Doo doo doo)
He lost his mind
(Doo doo doo)
That's about the time this poor boy lost his mind


Okay, that's it for the plot summary.

I'm torn in how I feel about Love Object, Robert Parigi's low-budget, twisted look at the objectification of women. For one, Desmond Harrington is far too good-looking an actor to play the part of Kenneth. I found it hard to believe that someone who looks like he does would have any trouble talking to women. Apart from this, Harrington does an amazing job taking his character from the wallflowerish nerd to a completely obsessed psychopath. It was quite compelling to watch, and somewhat disturbing. However, Harrington's performance is about the only one that is decent in the film (even veteran actor Rip Torn played his role with amateurish one-sidedness.)

The actual storyline is almost a complete mess. Parigi, it seems, attempts to make a film that he hopes will attain cult status by mixing elements of humor with the horrifying. Unfortunately, the mix doesn't quite gel. The first half of the film is filled with humorous moments that really don't work because of the dark atmosphere. I found myself laughing, but unsure of whether or not I was supposed to be. The film then takes a complete turn for the worse (in terms of mood) when it abandons humor altogether and tries to take itself seriously. It's like listening to a guy who is constantly joking around suddenly tell you that he's in love with you. You just can't look at him seriously. The one saving grace for the story is the ending, which provides the rarely found "satisfying twist".

Parigi also blends a number of horrific devices together, many of which also don't work. It begins with a few "sudden jolt" scares that are complete duds since they all involve the doll -- which is so stupid-looking its not even creepy. Soon, the scares become embedded in Kenneth's increasing madness, which is also far funnier than scary. Watching him interact with the doll on a romantic level may supposed to be disturbing, but it's really just sad. The only truly horrifying moments in the film are when Kenneth finally loses it completely and goes on his rampage (I'm thinking of a particular scene involving a bathtub and an apartment manager), but by this time, as I've already said, the film tried so hard to be funny that it is too difficult to take it seriously when we need to.

All in all, I think that there are a few things here that will make horror fans happy (notably the ending, and the few events leading up to it). But the film as a whole is such a farce that I doubt it will make anyone's "favorites" list.
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  #2  
Old 07-12-2004, 01:40 AM
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ShankS ShankS is offline
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good stuff.
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