Splice

Splice is a movie that is somewhat difficult for me to review. There were things that I loved about it, and there were things that disturbed me to my very core.

I'll start with what I loved. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley both give fantastic performances. The movie is very well-written with some great dark-humor moments, and the special effects are top-notch (no surprise, considering Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro was the executive producer).

Now, what disturbed me. I don't want to reveal much, but I'm going to tell you that the movie takes a very twisted sexual turn about two-thirds through. In setting the tone for this scene, Natali either succeeded greatly or failed miserably, because the entire theater was laughing in shock and disbelief. If he was playing it serious, it didn't work, but if he was going for darkly comic and crazy, he hit the nail on the head.

Splice is a hard one to recommend, because reactions on both ends are going to be very strong. You either get it or you don't. The reason I didn't post this review earlier is because I had to take some time to really think about the movie and my opinion. I've come to the conclusion that underneath all of the weirdness, there really is a brilliant film there.

A-