I Want You (1998)

Wonderful character development!

Sadly Over-hyped

Great Film overall

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

After this movie was over I found myself asking what it was all about. Too many unanswered questions. Too many false leads and ultimately an unsatisfying experience.Everything looked good, all the actors were great, the scenes looked real.What was the deal with the blonde? Why did she keep bringing so many guys back to her home? Why did the story set up Rachel Weiss as being such a prude with her dj boyfriend and then later show her as so much not like that in other settings? What was the deal with Rachel Weiss's character in the end? The whole thing just left me feeling perplexed and angry that I wasted 2 hours of my life on it.Given all these negatives, I gave it a "high" rating of 5 because it did look good and all the actors performed well. Had I just rated the story, I probably would have given it a 2.

This was an interesting film with some very quirky characters.Honda (Luka Petrusic) is a tall, thin 14-year-old boy who usually went everywhere at kind of a gallop, and is a mute. He lives in a house on the beach with his sister named Smokey(Labina Mitevska)--he also has a little hideaway in an old boat that has washed up on the beach.Honda has a rather strange hobby of listening constantly to other people's conversations and other activities, and recording them. Honda can even record people in a car not too distant from where he is, and he even has mobile equipment.One day Honda runs into a beautiful young woman named Helen(Rachel Weisz), quite literally. After making her acquaintance, Honda and her become friends.A young man named Martin,(Alessandro Nivola)out of prison and on parole, with whom Helen was previously involved, is stalking her. Smokey, a sultry nightclub singer, who has a very unusual hairstyle, upon meeting Martin, becomes very interested in him.All four of these people have some psychological issues. Helen - has some obvious sexual problems Martin- is a stalker Smokey- is going to bed with every man she encounters. And Honda with his muteness,eavesdropping and obsession with Helen is also in need of Dr. Freud.We discover as the film progresses, why Honda is mute and what transpired between Martin and Helen in the past.How this all concludes was quite surprising and unexpected to me.8 stars

The topics touched on in this film include suicide, patricide, pedophilia, sexual obsession and murder. With a running time of just 87 min. and a large dose of nudity, it is amazing just how boring this film is. We are to believe that it is a cross between a 1950s English kitchen sink drama and an erotic thriller. Even though there are large gaps revealed to us in the characters' motivation, there is enough shown as the make them as one dimensional as a paper cut-out. Rachel Weisz's two nude scenes might be considered courageous in another film; but with so much gratuitous nudity preceding it, it loses it's impact. If you want to see Rachel Weisz naked and have a fast forward button, then rent this film. Otherwise stay away. It is incredibly pretentious and boring.

Michael Winterbottom's latest film is definitely unlike everything his done in the past.Deeply influenced by the atmosphere that haunts the films of K.Kieslowski and D.Lynch,he has managed to create such a marvelous erotic and mysterious sensation that truly compensates for the absence of a significant plot.To be rewarded for that,of course,is the renowned photography director Slawomir Idjiak(3 colours,Gattaca) who created the excellent,and sometimes surrealistic,multi-color frames in which the actors told their story.A definite plus to this fascinating film experience is,of course,Elvis Costello's song "I want you" which is bound to never leave your your mind to rest unless you hear it over and over again!