BLACK SWAN

RYAN: Black Swan is the film that’s rumored to be the one that’s going to win the Oscar for Natalie Portman as Best Actress.

CAROLINE: Normally, I’m pretty skeptical of her acting abilities. I find her mediocre at best in most movies; but here she’s pretty darn good.

RYAN: I think her acting in this is the best of her career. It’s also a very juicy role. I walked away thinking, “Wow, she can act and then some.” I mean, she learned ballet for the role too, and she dances exquisitely.

CAROLINE: She trained for a year to prepare for this movie, up to 8 hours a day toward the end, which is insane. She even claims to have lost 20 lbs., which doesn’t seem possible off her tiny body.

RYAN: The choreography in the movie is fantastic. The film is basically a metaphor for the story of Swan Lake and the screenplay is so genius. It’s a riveting movie, the kind where you walk out of the theater and want to dissect it with your friends.

CAROLINE: I find that I like the movie even more now that it’s been a few days since I’ve seen it. I definitely enjoyed it while I was watching it, but I think I like it even better now, and would totally see it again. Though it’s much freakier than I thought it would be, and even a little bloody.

RYAN: Natalie Portman’s character is obsessed with her fingers and cuticles and that makes for some pretty disturbing scenes.

CAROLINE: I actually had to look away a couple times. I’d call this movie a psychological thriller, but it was even more of a thriller than I’d expected. I almost couldn’t believe what I was watching sometimes. It’s pretty sadistic and intense.

RYAN: It’s directed by Darren Aronofsky aka Rachel Weisz’s ex, who’s known for making groundbreaking and disturbing movies like Requiem for a Dream, and Black Swan is no exception.

CAROLINE: Some people are claiming this movie is a rip-off of ballet movies from the past, but it’s not like anything I’ve seen before. It’s also got more of an indie vibe than I thought it would; hand-held cameras and such. When a movie has as much buzz as this one does, I’m usually expecting a splashy Hollywood film, but with this one I was quickly reminded that Aronofsky doesn’t really make movies like that.

RYAN: I’d like to laud the return of one Winona Ryder to the big screen. She’s in the movie too little for my liking, but she’s amazing.

CAROLINE: Her part isn’t huge, but it’s a critical one. There’s also Mila Kunis, who I think is even prettier than Natalie Portman. This is kind of her first legit dramatic role. We’re used to seeing her in comedies.

RYAN: She’s great, and she’s close friends in real life with Natalie, so that’s part of the reason she’s in this movie. Then there’s Vincent Cassel as the ballet director, and he’s kind of sexy-ugly.

CAROLINE: He was perfect and hateable in this role. It’s just one of those perfectly cast movies. Barbara Hershey plays Natalie Portman’s psycho mom, and even though her face is terrifying, she’s perfect in her role too. She almost reminded me of the mom in Carrie.

RYAN: She actually looks like she could be Natalie’s mom. She played the role of the overbearing stage mom so well. And the movie has some incredible special effects too, which you might not expect. And the makeup is so good!!

CAROLINE: I’m starting to think you liked this movie. I totally did too, I just didn’t expect it to be so creepy and disturbing. I’m glad I didn’t know too much going in.

— BOTTOM LINE —

RYAN: This is without a doubt one of the must see films of the year, and one of the year’s best. It hits every mark and is totally on point… pun intended.

CAROLINE: Nice one. I really liked it too, and would recommend it to film buffs and ballet fans and anyone who likes a true psychological thriller. It’s always fascinating to me when an actor goes the extra mile to really become a character, and I think Natalie did that with this role. It’s a dark, twisted movie, so see it if you like that kind of thing. I know I do.

— RATING —