Posted: 08/17/2005

Asylum

(2005)

by Anna Keizer

It’s really too bad. I wanted so much to like this film. For one, I’ve always had a great respect for Natasha Richardson- she is by far one of the most underrated actresses around. And Marton Csokas is just incredible in the film as her lover, Edgar. Of course, Ian McKellen is always a pleasure to watch onscreen. Overall, however, the film just didn’t come together. Literally.

Adapted from a novel by Patrick McGrath, Asylum tells the story of a restless housewife, Stella (Richardson), who engages in an affair with one of the patients (Csokas) at the mental institution of which her husband is being groomed to take over. Soon enough, however, her own psychological state is drawn into question as she lets everything else- her marriage, her child, her reputation- fall to the wayside as her sordid relationship with Edgar intensifies. And how do you think this one turns out, eh? Come on, I’m not gonna give anything away. Let’s just say that it climaxes with your typical tragic ending. So, yeah, it’s a bit of a downer.

I’m okay with downers, though. That wasn’t the problem. The initial glitch with Asylum was that it seemed to be stuffing as much as it could into just ninety minutes of screen-time. Nearly every scene ended abruptly and awkwardly just so the story could keep moving forward. On the one hand, I can appreciate the snappy pace that director David Mackenzie was trying to implement. However, he and editors Colin Monie and Steven Weisberg put us on such a break-neck speed that I actually felt like many scenes were cut off before their full impact to the narrative could be appreciated. Never a good thing when you notice the editing, period.

I guess the main problem I had with this film, though, goes back to the story itself. I just don’t get it. The whole “he hit me, but I still love him” stupidity that I see over and over again in films like this. Yes, I understand that Stella is in a cold marriage with a cold man in a cold community of cold people. It’s very cold. And Edgar is freaking hot. Literally. The minute, though, that you show me a woman who goes back to the fellow that not only is ruining her life in every other way, but on top of all that he slaps the crap of out her… Well, I just don’t buy it. What exactly is she going back for? Please don’t tell me that a woman who’s so full of passion and life would allow herself to be treated that way. That’s exactly why Stella mentally checked out of her marriage. It’s the same thing here. This is just one more man who doesn’t treat her well. And I know that I’m not alone. In the theater, I could hear the exasperated sighs when Stella came back to Edgar for more. It just didn’t make any sense. Because of her decision, though, she essentially seals her fate and that of her family. That is why the film fails as a whole.

So, although there were definitely some inspired moments in Asylum, I cannot say that it was a great film. An okay film with a really hot guy maybe, but that’s the best I can do.

Anna Keizer is a writer and film critic living in Southern California.

Got a problem? E-mail us at filmmonthly@gmail.com