Movie reviews: I Feel Pretty, Unsane
I FEEL PRETTY (NC16)
Why is a US size 12 considered plus sized?
And when did women with curves become classified as ugly, replusive and pitiful?
It is obvious this comedy is all about celebrating one's inner beauty and how having confidence is attractive.
But how the message gets across is not only lame and phony, but also too little too late - during the last 10 minutes of the 110-minute film.
We see Renee (Amy Schumer) whining about how pathetic her life is and constantly fat-shaming herself.
In a freak accident during a spin cycle class, she hits her head. Her low self-esteem then magically disappears and she suddenly sees herself as a gorgeous stick-thin supermodel, much like her gym acquaintance (Emily Ratajkowski).
All her dreams suddenly come true - she finds love and even lands a dream job as a receptionist in a posh cosmetics company run by Avery LeClaire (a hilarious Michelle Williams).
The "transformation" leads to Renee undergoing a personality makeover too and becoming shallow, but how the story unfolds is a big cliche. The comedy is at times spot-on, but those moments can't beat the bloat. - JOANNE SOH
Rating: 2/5
UNSANE (NC16)
For a movie touted as a psychological thriller, Unsane is hardly scary or thrilling.
It barely succeeds as a B-movie horror flick, salvaged only by Claire Foy's compelling performance and Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh's interesting filming technique.
Foy plays a young woman who recently moved from Boston to Pennsylvania to escape her stalker (Joshua Leonard).
But she finds herself involuntarily locked up in a psychiatric ward, with an orderly who looks just like him.
Is he simply a figment of her fevered imagination, or is there something more sinister afoot?
Foy convincingly depicts her character's paranoia, proving her acting chops in a particularly riveting padded cell scene.
Soderbergh shot the entire film on an iPhone 7 Plus, creating a gritty and almost distorted look. This largely pays off, but it is also makes Unsane reminiscent of a film student's work. -RY-ANNE LIM
Rating: 2.5/5
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