Category Archives: Psychological Drama

2009, Drama, Fantasy, Francis Ford Coppola, Imperfect, Nudity, Plot Twist, Psychological Drama, Sex Scenes, Unusual

Tetro (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Francis Ford Coppola writes, directs and produces this captivating drama that centers on the relationship between Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich) and Tetro (Vincent Gallo), two brothers who reunite in Buenos Aires after a 10-year estrangement. Maribel Verdu, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Carmen Maura and Rodrigo de la Serna also star in this moving tale loosely inspired by Coppola’s own experiences growing up in a creative Argentine-Italian family.

Wikipedia tells us that in February 2007, director Francis Ford Coppola announced that he would produce and direct the film Tetro, based on a script that he had written while editing Youth Without Youth. There is no mention of whether the plot has anything at all to do with events in the life of the director.

While at times a bit “artsy-fartsy”, the story is compelling and includes some plot surprises. Filming is in black and white except when a character (almost always Tetro) is having a flashback or when some unusual entertainment is happening. Those colored episodes are theatrical, often strange, and involve opera or ballet acting out fantasies or flashbacks.

None of the actors were familiar to me. Alden Ehrenreich was 20 when he made the film. As a smiling, naive, virginal young man he is appealing. After the plot twist he does not seem to carry his part well. In fact for me the last part of the film somewhat fell apart.

At the very least I do not regret having seen the film.

2008, Detective, Drama, Psychological Drama, Psychological Thriller, Serial Killer, Suspense

Tenderness (2008)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

After completing his stint in a juvenile detention center for murder, 18-year-old ex-con Eric Poole (Jon Foster) embarks on a hazardous road trip with Lori, a hyper teen (Sophie Traub), close by his side. But little do the troubled pair know that they are being tracked by Det. Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe), a hard-nosed New York cop who’s convinced that Poole is a psychopath capable of killing again.

Detective Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe) is not so much hard-nosed as he is a caring man who is almost retired from the force and has as his only case the task of preventing Eric Poole (Jon Foster) from killing again. In fact the detective spends most of his time at the side of his comatose wife caring for her. Otherwise he is tracking Eric.

For only a short while did I wonder if Eric is really a psychopath, but only for a short while. Jon Foster as Eric Poole is perfect portraying a conflicted young man searching for a way out. Foster played Art Bechstein in The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2008), a film I strongly recommend.

Not until the end of the film could I really understood what was motivating Lori (Sophie Traub). At that very end all the details add up to her real goal. She played young Sylvia in The Interpreter (2005).

You will not experience any violence, but the threat of such is constantly lurking in this psychological drama. What you might experience, however, is sadness for the two unfortunate young characters.

2006, Drama, Mystery Film, Plot Twist, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Suspense

Irresistible (2006)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Sophie Hartley (Susan Sarandon) is convinced that her husband’s beautiful co-worker Mara (Emily Blunt) is stalking her. In Sophie’s mind, Mara covets her children, her husband and her life. But are her fears just the imaginings of a borderline paranoiac? In an attempt to prove her sanity, Sophie turns stalker herself — and makes a discovery that underscores her worst fears. Sam Neill co-stars in this tense psychological drama.

NetFlix’s summary is almost a spoiler. Still the suspense builds because more and more strange things happen to Sophie. When will the scales tip in her favor ? Or is she really mentally ill ?

Mara is so beautiful that we are just waiting for the husband Sam Neill to fall for her. Is Mara really involved in Sophie’s problems ?

Actually I figured out what was happening well before the “ta da !” revelation. Let me know how you fare.

Sam Neill first came to my attention when he was a mere 32 playing in “My Brilliant Career”. Twenty-seven years later, at age 59, he has held up well.

You might find the ending a bit too goody good good. But don’t let me dissuade you from watching a good yarn.

2010, Based on true facts, Bullying, Conspiracy, Dark, Drama, Drugs, Grim, Non-physical Violence, Not Feel Good, Psychological Drama, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Violent

All Good Things (2010)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

After restless real-estate scion David Marks (Ryan Gosling) weds middle-class beauty Katie McCarthy (Kirsten Dunst) against the wishes of his disapproving father (Frank Langella), suspicions of murder fall on the unmoored heir when his wife mysteriously vanishes. Though he’s not indicted in her disappearance, people with ties to the case begin turning up dead when it’s reopened two decades later — and the unhinged David is the prime suspect.

Thanks to Wikipedia for leading me to the model for this film, namely Robert Durst. After seeing the film be sure to go to this article about Robert Durst. Believe me, truth is stranger than fiction. You just have to wonder why juries are so stupid. According to Wikipedia, Robert Durst really liked the film. That figures!

And is it just such manipulation of the law that makes this grim film really infuriating. If you are prepared for a non-happy ending, a leap into exasperating unfinished business, then this perfectly made film is for you. All three actors get it right. Frank Langella is a truly evil man. In fact the entire family is a real-life version of the “Adams Family”. Even Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is portrayed as an politician who was given evidence of the family’s corruption and choose to ignore it on the grounds that such matters were really just the private affairs of the family (who contributed huge amounts of money to various politicians). Later on in the film the family gets to the district attorney who reopened the case many years later.

In a certain sense Ryan Gosling does not even need to act. He presents a lost, increasingly distant man who shows almost no emotion. As an amazing recreation of suspenseful evil, here is a film to which I was glued.

But you ARE warned!

2009, Could Be Hard To Watch, Occasional gore, Psychological Drama, War

Triage (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Colin Farrell stars in this psychological drama about a photojournalist who returns home from a harrowing news assignment without the colleague who’d accompanied him. Now, his girlfriend (Paz Vega) will not rest until she finds out what took place. Bosnian helmer Danis Tanovic, whose No Man’s Land won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film, directed this taut, dark drama shot on location in Ireland

Colin Farrell does an acceptable job portraying a grief-striken man in a state of denial. The war scenes in Kurdistan are grim. The title is perfect and refers in part to the beginning of the film in which a Kurdish battlefield doctor with almost no equipment routinely shoots all wounded men in horrible pain for whom he can do nothing. You must wait until the end of the film to learn why Colin Farrell is in such psychological pain.

Important topic but a somewhat mediocre film.