Black Swan - Movie Review

It's the time of year where there's precious little to see at the movies but since it's Oscar season and there remains a Best Picture nominee or two we haven't caught, we saw Black Swan. No, we didn't expect a behind-the-scenes look at the grueling work that goes into a ballet production but we hoped for a little more than what we got. Oh, stylish, for sure, but can we do away with the jittery hand-held camera for a while please? We get it, the POV is up close and personal because this an up close and personal kinda movie so no need to hammer us over the head about it.

Natalie Portman is suitably hysterical but that's all she is; I hold with the reviewer who suggested a more interesting movie would have been about Mila Kunis' character trying to find her light side rather than Portman's character trying to find her dark side. (And Kunis steals the show, for my money. She's got that look. You know what I'm talking about, right?) And you gotta give the producers some props: a movie made for a $13 million pittance, it looks impressive.

A nightmarish movie with some technical flair that saves it but that's about all there is here. Not a real contender for Best Movie.