Envy (2001)

Coming in at 83 minutes I can recommend this a decent investment in time. It is a standard thriller with some nods towards sexual, family and class politics and the story though never rising to great levels nevertheless holds the interest as two women become involved in an increasingly bitter struggle following the theft of one's dress from a clothesline by the other. Coming from a middle class Australian background it is interesting to see middle class Australia as the canvas this story is told on. Though not a great film, it nevertheless hits the modest mark it aims for- certainly I enjoyed it more than the average big budget overblown levithian that is usually thrown at the screen these days.

For an australian theatre, this film does not let the audience down. At first, the film seems choppy, confusing and badly thought out, but as the movie goes on and the plot thickens, everything falls into place. Brilliant acting by the two female leads, Anna Lise Phillips (rachel) and Linda Cropper (kate). The office scene is amazing, almost 10 minutes of pure tension and anger, mostly conveyed through prolonged silences. That is the mark of great acting, when you can create the most powerful scene in the movie without talking much. Some of the choices that the characters make are quite confusing though, and if you get it on DVD i strongly reccomend you watch it with Directors comments, although sometimes the two narrators go off on a tangent. This film is more dark and sinister than a lot of thrillers, and explores whats behind all the closed doors, what goes on behind the scenes and what people are thinking and how they might react when someone they are close to is raped. Granted, they might not go to such extremes as Kate, but still, its a interesting movie nonetheless.May I also say the pool and shopping centre are from my home town in Sydney! Gave me the shock of my life to see the blue 'sky' from my local shopping center in the place where i grew up, seeing as I have not been there for almost 2 years now. Once i got over that, i realised how much i should be focusing on the actors and the plot rather than the locations. You really need to notice details in this movie, as lots of it is flashbacks, and there is no indication of what is and what isnt a flashback (or flashforward, as the first scene is)unless you notice things like clothing. The ending is very ambiguous, and as the directors say, there is no real meaning to it, you can choose which of the two options you prefer (i wont say what happens, that would ruin it) A great movie, one to see if a thriller/thinker is your idea of a good movie.

This is NOT just another ordinary thriller - it's darker, has more behind the scenes, is less polished, has more substance. However, the only way the story could succeed was with some unbelievably stupid plot developments: it seems the script writers have almost totally ignored the possibility of police and/or psychiatric involvement...surely after your teenaged son has been raped, you'd get some sort of professional help!! The film gets sillier and sillier as the mother goes through a mid-life crisis (complete with alcohol and a different hair-colour) and becomes a vigilante seeking revenge for her family... Okay, what WAS done was done well, but it's actually a pretty bad script. Rating: 6/10.

This was a decent watch, but nothing that I would particularly recommend to anyone. Acting performances were generally quite good, and the story certainly off-beat enough to keep one wondering where it would go. For something a little bit different, give it a try---better than the same-old same-old.