Lost and Delirious (2001)

The movie follows its intention rightfully, honoring its very title—Lost & Delirious. You get lost, you get delirious, and yes, just by watching the pungent storyline, pungent being the uniqueness, rather aberrant conundrum of the script. The spell gets lost, however, with debilitating performances of the cast, and particularly Piper Perabu (Paulie,) who got awry whenever it came to intense situations. The other actresses (Jessica Pare (Tori), Mischa Barton (Mouse)) didn't have very intense situations so it worked fine with them. Paulie, however, undermined the very serious notion of the movie, and while the script continued to hit audiences with vigor and might, her performance wasn't exactly congenial to it. By the way, Piper now is a wonderful and much better actress now than she was back then, so that's perfectly fine.Some very peculiar elements, like the raptor, the gardener, and the English Literature classes, and the very liberal and open-minded teacher, together with contradiction of thoughts and behaviors, for example, Victoria's recognition of intimacy with Pauline, but failure to go on with her because of family's inclinations, such as personal attitude and religious affiliations, are all very much applicable to real life, so that's a perfect insight of most high-school, and college students. And that's mainly why the movie continues to serve such profound individualistic influence amongst people so well bound under the society as a whole. And practically even, there's no way out, except private affairs, which again, come under the retaliation of conservatives, and thus, individualistic preferences are subdued with extreme prejudice for subcultures and down-the-road likenesses. The point is, Lost & Delirious tremendously inflects on subtle necessities and feelings of humans, and highlights the various turns, U-turns in fact, that cross them all, to simply relinquish possibilities of artificial success. So what it's really trying to say is that human is his own enemy. Artificiality kills the man. Our own traditions, lifestyle choices, cultures, and trends are the biggest traitors. They themselves are swords, which slowly penetrate our minds and senses to deprive us of the very happiness. Pauline, for example, is struck in awe of Victoria, and Victoria knew that her family is orthodox, but she continued the same-sex relationship anyway, but when she feared exposition, she turned away. Such is the impact of societal patterns. And I'm not being judgmental here, mind you, I'm only pointing out to the vulnerability of humans to their own decisions, but that's how it goes, and will for decades, and there's no bettering that. Not everyone is a bloody heretic.I understand that this review is being very unconventional, so much so that you wouldn't call it a review at all, but believe me, the storyline, although lacking numerous editing and refinery skills, is just heart-rending, and deliberately and undeliberately, I'm forced to take this detour, and mostly as a catharsis. It has this conscientious impact on me, and, presumably, on all of us. Lost & Delirious is the perfect vow to castigation of the very phenomenon of "tranquility." Mary's dad didn't come to the school function, Paulie got f**ked by Tori, Mouse had blood rushing through her veins (probably from the third party's frolicking,) Miss Fay was over-dramatically sensual in her reading of plays, everyone else were the typical dumb and judgy freaks about how lesbian relationships are stains on society. This among several other things—probably "seven deadly sins"—is what Lost & Delirious devotes itself to. I'm not saying that there was nothing wrong with the movie, there sure was, but everything was in the execution and certainly not in the moralistic aspects of the movie itself. So that's the bottom-line: Despite the six, this easily stands as one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had.

This movie would really make you feel sad and sorry for Paulie because she is over thinking the fact Tori broke up with her just as they were found out in bed together. I mean Tori shouldve taught her sister that anyone could fall in love regardless who it is unless they were people that are extremely evil and do wrong things! Could she have not thought of that?I was so hoping that Mouse and Paulie would be lovers with each other to calm her love sickness for Tori and think about themselves. Mouse had that golden heart for Paulie and I mean they should've kissed! I would have loved to have seen that and she wouldn't have sadly committed suicide! Its just so heartbreaking, really and truly :'(

Lost and Delirious is a lesbian love story with lots of passion, but not much else to offer. It has some enjoyable parts, but the cliché cheesiness leave something to be desired.MaryBeth (Mischa Barton), or "Mouse" as she is often called, is a sheltered young teen who is sent to a boarding school. She is still recovering from the death of her mother a few years earlier, and has difficulty fitting in. However, Mary B is put in a room with Tori (Jessica Pare) and Paulie (Piper Parabo), two older girls who are very much in love. While she is clearly heterosexual, the love starved Mary B is comforted by the open displays of love and affection between her two roommates. Tori and Paulie also bond with Mary (nicknaming her "Mary Brave") and all share painful stories about being neglected or rejected by their parents. But things go into a downward spiral after Tori's younger sister and her friends find Paulie and Tori in bed together. Horrified at the idea of being disowned by her religious parents, Tori tells everyone that Paulie forced herself on her, and begins dating a boy at the nearby boys' school. Paulie is beyond devastated, and spends most of her time in the woods healing and training an injured hawk. Poor Mary B is stuck in the middle between a newly repressed Tori and mentally cracking Paulie. Paulie quickly becomes an outcast with Mary and the bird as her only companions. Despite Mary and a kind teacher trying to help her, Paulie continues deeper into her nervous breakdown. The movie ends on a heart breaking note for all parties, leaving a bitter taste in the viewer's mouth.Lost and Delirious feels…half baked. If anything it definitely got the passion and emotion down very well. The love scenes were great and some of the sad scenes were good. As stated earlier the plot was cliché. It followed that basic plot of a gay movie where one character is "gayer" than the other, and one tries to be straight. That can be good if the characters are very interesting or original, but they were not. Paulie's character just seemed like a lesbian, more unstable version of Julie from The Next Karate Kid, even more with the addition of the hawk. Piper Parabo is also such a dead ringer for Hilary Swank that it almost feels like plagiarism. The viewers know little information about Tori, other than the fact that she is a closeted lesbian and has "religious" parents. The fact that they are religious or conservative is only revealed when the girls are found out, and they act as though this has already been established. Mary B is the best developed character, but they try too hard to make all of her narrations poignant and meaningful, but most just come off as silly. Many aspects of the plot didn't seem to make sense. If Tori was so afraid of being outed why would she openly sleep naked with Paulie when she knew her sister often barged into her room? Why would she even do so when she first met Mary? Mary could've been a gossipy homophobe for all she knew! Paulie has such a clear and slow mental breakdown that it is painful to watch. She is so ignored that her family would have good grounds to sue the school for not forcing her into counseling or sending her home for psychiatric treatment. Some themes of the movie also irritate me. Despite being a lesbian movie it equates femininity with weakness, and the girls act "masculine" when they are being strong. On top of that, it depicts suicide (particularly suicide over a lost love) as beautiful. That is just… that's not in good taste, and a rather poor message. The conclusion was not very satisfying, and left me wondering more about the characters. Not to mention, I found the characters' reaction to the painful ending rather lacking in emotion, if not totally indifferent.Lost and Delirious is mediocre at best. The writing isn't great, the acting isn't great, and the plot isn't great. Is it terrible? Well, no. There are several things I liked about the film, mainly the fact it was narrated by a third party. I also liked the passion they were able to depict, despite the lacking script. But in general, it's too corny to be good.

OK, middle aged guy buys a movie about lesbian school girls. Everybody nods knowingly and they may have correctly judged my motivation in watching it. However, nothing prepared me for the way I felt after watching it and still feel about it now. I won't go into the story or spoilers, because they are sufficiently documented elsewhere here. On the face of it, there's an opportunity to make a genuinely erotic movie. What I saw was a movie about three girls who have, in some way or another, been rejected pushed aside or pressured into making choices which aren't their own. They are growing up and finding their way, not fully understanding the consequences of their own emotions. Those parts which I might have found erotic I found, instead, very tender and beautifully moving. The scene where Tori explains to Paulie that she will never love anyone the way she loves her is the most heart breaking piece of cinema I have ever seen. I get emotional just thinking about it! Piper Perabo gives an astoundingly real and powerful performance as a girl rejected first by her natural mother, then by her adoptive parents and,finally, by the girl she loves. Jessica Pare is convincing as a spoilt girl who sees herself losing all the benefits her family provide if she proves to be in any way less than the trophy daughter they imagine. She is plainly in love with Paulie but fails to see the consequences of her rejection until it's too late. Mischa Barton is also convincing as a young girl confused by her new surroundings but loyal to those who show her friendship. Her dismay when her father fails to arrive for a school event was profoundly touching. In the end,though, it's Piper Perabo who truly stands out. Why was she not nominated for any major award for this? I'd feel pretty aggrieved if I were her! I would have given 10/10 but for the ending. I felt a movie this good deserved something more conclusive and credible. Over all,though,it's not soft porn, not comically erotic, and nothing to watch with friends over beer. It's a beautiful, profoundly affecting film about true love and teenage girls. Anyone who dreads the day when their daughter comes home and says 'Dad, I have something to tell you...' really must watch this. I promise you, it could change your life!