I like many different kinds of movies, but this is one of my very favorites because it's among the rare few that really touched me. The film takes on a HUGE subject (the price of devotion) in a very direct and simple way, and truly brought me inside the heroine's world.
I think a lot of us can identify with Sharon's yearning to get something more out of life; I mean, who can claim this is really the best of all possible worlds? (Look around!) The scene where Sharon breaks down after showering in scalding water, weeping that she's tired of all the pain and emptiness, is unforgettable. Mimi Rogers plays the part with complete conviction, and I especially like her glowing serenity in the middle section in which she's saved. (The actress' delivery is occasionally a bit flat, but I actually think that's brilliant. Roger's isn't playing a rocket scientist, just a lost, ordinary woman.) As for the poster who made the brilliant observation that the character "looks just as bored and unfulfilled by random group sex as she is by answering telephones all day," um, that's the point. In the first group sex scene Sharon enjoys herself, yet she eventually leaves the swingers scene when she feels unfulfilled.
I also love the sequence where the born-again Sharon is at work, proselytizing The Word to people who've only called Directory Assistance for phone numbers. ("Well I'm sure you're in a hurry, but don't you think you could take time out to get to know your Lord and Savior?") The scene where Sharon tells her old party pal that she's met a really great guy (Jesus) is priceless as well, and the scene where she's pulled over by a cop near the end and breaks down is extremely powerful.
The film does look a little low budget, especially near the end, but it's a movie about ideas and emotion, not spectacle. It's a thoughtful and thorough film, with an articulate point of view that doesn't judge its characters who enjoy evangelical faith...which is rather unlike the judgmental view of the God we're usually presented with.
I think a lot of us can identify with Sharon's yearning to get something more out of life; I mean, who can claim this is really the best of all possible worlds? (Look around!) The scene where Sharon breaks down after showering in scalding water, weeping that she's tired of all the pain and emptiness, is unforgettable. Mimi Rogers plays the part with complete conviction, and I especially like her glowing serenity in the middle section in which she's saved. (The actress' delivery is occasionally a bit flat, but I actually think that's brilliant. Roger's isn't playing a rocket scientist, just a lost, ordinary woman.) As for the poster who made the brilliant observation that the character "looks just as bored and unfulfilled by random group sex as she is by answering telephones all day," um, that's the point. In the first group sex scene Sharon enjoys herself, yet she eventually leaves the swingers scene when she feels unfulfilled.
I also love the sequence where the born-again Sharon is at work, proselytizing The Word to people who've only called Directory Assistance for phone numbers. ("Well I'm sure you're in a hurry, but don't you think you could take time out to get to know your Lord and Savior?") The scene where Sharon tells her old party pal that she's met a really great guy (Jesus) is priceless as well, and the scene where she's pulled over by a cop near the end and breaks down is extremely powerful.
The film does look a little low budget, especially near the end, but it's a movie about ideas and emotion, not spectacle. It's a thoughtful and thorough film, with an articulate point of view that doesn't judge its characters who enjoy evangelical faith...which is rather unlike the judgmental view of the God we're usually presented with.