Overall Rating
  Awesome: 58.97%
Worth A Look: 23.93%
Average: 11.97%
Pretty Bad: 1.71%
Total Crap: 3.42%
7 reviews, 75 user ratings
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| May |
by Brian McKay
"Likes to be weird - but not weird enough"
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Like the fairly recent film GINGER SNAPS, MAY is a small indie horror-suspense title whose buzz has preceeded it, and which ends up being a well-written and well-acted film that still failed to really grab me on any level deeper than that of superficial enjoyment.Unlike the recent "art house horror" greats DOG SOLDIERS or 28 DAYS LATER, there's just no compelling central theme or characters to root for in May, but rather a collection of interesting ideas and strong performances that fail to gel into a truly engaging thriller.
May (Angela Bettis) is an introverted young woman who grew up with a lazy eye, and has always been an outsider because of it. Her mother gives her a doll named Susie, which she hand-made herself, to serve as May's "Best Friend". However, the doll comes enclosed in a glass case, with the admonition that she should never be taken out and played with.
Fast Forward to the present, where May is now working as a Veterinarian's assistant, still saddled with the shyness and insecurities of her childhood. However, there's a new boy she's got her shy little eye on (the good one), and when her optometrist is able to correct her eye problem with the use of contact lenses, she decides to go after the hunky young mechanic Adam (Jeremy Sisto). Adam doesn't notice her at first, despite her sudden transformation to wearing sexy clothes and using every trick in her admittedly clumsy repertoire to get his attention.
When he finally takes an interest in her, though, they have a brief period of giddy courtship. When she asks Adam if he thinks she's weird, he replies "I do think you're weird - but I like weird". Just how much "weird" he actually likes is soon put to the test, and when things get a little too weird with the obsessive May, he gives her the cold shoulder.
Heartbroken over the rejection, May briefly takes solace in the arms of her strange and slutty co-worker Polly (Anna Ferris), who has a thing for the ladies. Desperate for companionship, May gives in to Polly's advances, only to discover later that their night together was a mere fling, and that she has been the latest in a string of Polly's discarded girl-toys.
Throughout all of the awkward fumbling toward human solace, and the subsequent rejection, May talks to and argues with her encased doll frequently, smashing down on the case at one point and causing a series of slowly spreading hairline fractures in the glass that crackle and creak toward the inevitable rupture (a serviceable, if uninspired, metaphor for May's sanity). When Susie is finally freed from her case, the truly twisted side of May comes out as well.
While the film's characters are interesting, and there are enough moments of humor and gore to keep things going at a brisk clip, the script suffers from the same kind of uneven schizophrenia that inhabits May's persona. It bounces from idea to idea, but none of the ideas help create the kind of taut and unnerving atmosphere that a film like this requires. The biggest disappointment about May is that nothing really comes as a surprise. It all unfolds pretty much as expected, especially if you've been paying attention to May's earlier fascination with observing people on the street and focusing in on their best "parts".
Angela Bettis certainly gives a strong performance, yet her character comes off like a cliche'. The blame for this can be firmly laid on the way the character is written, rather than the way Bettis portrays her. One of the problems with May is that everyone in it is far too attractive, especially Bettis herself, whose waifish and stunning good looks cannot be easily concealed behind a fake lazy eye and a few intentionally bad clothing and hairstyle choices. Her character comes off like the love child of a supermodel and Ted Levine's "Buffalo Bill" character in Silence of the Lambs. And while May is a very lonely and tragic character that inspires moments of genuine heartfelt sympathy, she is too spread all over the map. One minute she's the mousy geek with the squeaky voice, the next (after a change into sexier clothes) she's the clumsy but wholly appealing temptress, the next she's the cold, confident, and ruthless peruser of "perfect" parts. A testament to Bettis' substantial range and skill as an actress? Yes. But a truly credible and enthralling character? Not really.While there are several praise-worthy elements of MAY , the titular character's lament that "Most people have perfect parts, but are never perfect in their whole" applies just as well to the film. There are some great moments, and Bettis certainly gives it the college try, but for some reason her character is only able to invoke a fraction of the genuinely unsettling creepiness that other actresses have achieved - Eihi Shiina in AUDITION, for example. However, if you don't mind the fact that the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts, you will find plenty to pick and choose from that is to your liking.
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=5750&reviewer=258
originally posted: 07/05/03 20:07:31
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Sundance Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Sundance Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2002 Seattle Film Festival. For more in the 2002 Seattle Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
06-Jun-2003 (R)
DVD: 17-Aug-2004
UK
N/A
Australia
N/A
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