DVD Review: Enemy

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Fucking blueberries, man!

Enemy really is quite the experience. I muttered "the fuck?" to myself a few times through out. Then when the film ended, it took me a few minutes to gather my composure over it. But one thing I'm certain of is Enemy was a very fine film.

Adam Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a seemingly introverted history professor. He has a girlfriend, Mary (Melanie Laurent) who seems to just fuck him and leave. Maybe she's not even a girlfriend? He rents a movie and notices his exact double in the back ground. He does a little computer sleuthing and finds out he's a local actor named Anthony Clare. He tracks him down, but things end up far more complicated then he imaged.

I really only had two problems with this film. 1) spiders. I fucking hate spiders. and 2) There's quite a bit of gratuitous female nudity here, but barely any male. That's not fair. All kidding aside, this movie was fascinating. You end up questioning nearly everything on screen. None of it is handed to you. That can be frustrating sometimes, but it really works here, Plus, Gyllenhaal gives one of his best performances.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "Did you have a good day at school?" - Helen (Sarah Gadon)

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 8, 2014 at 10:24 AM

    Gyllenhaal is all sorts of amazing in this. This, Noah and Under the Skin are easily THE films of the first half of the year for me. All so completely intellectual and stimulating to experience.

    Nice write up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 8, 2014 at 12:05 PM

      Thank you! I'm looking forward to Under The Skin. I read the book, and I'm dying to compare it.

      Delete
  2. JoshJuly 8, 2014 at 12:19 PM

    This movie was quite the experience, and Gyllenhaal is wonderful. The atmosphere and look of the film were great too. Glad you liked it as well. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 9, 2014 at 6:55 AM

      Yes! An experience is definitely the best way to describe it.

      Delete
  3. UnknownJuly 8, 2014 at 4:20 PM

    Your opening paragraph made me laugh. When I saw Eyes Wide Shut, I repeatedly said "what the fuck???" so many times that my teenage son came downstairs to see what was going on. :-)

    This sounds like a movie I'd enjoy ... I'm off to see if it's on Netflix. By the way, I don't mind spiders, but the unequal treatment of make and female nudity in the media does irk me a bit. Don't they realize that heterosexual women and gay men comprise about half of their viewing audience? Keep it fair, people! :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 9, 2014 at 6:54 AM

      Right? Can we get a little D in here somewhere? lol

      I thought about Eyes Wide Shut when I was watching this. I had a similar experience at times.

      Delete
  4. thevoid99July 8, 2014 at 6:19 PM

    Spiders? I hate spiders. I'm afraid of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 9, 2014 at 6:53 AM

      I'm terrified of them too and there's a few random shots of them. Those were my least favorite parts.

      Delete
  5. Candice FrederickJuly 8, 2014 at 9:31 PM

    ha! this sounds really intriguing! Yeah, I once wrote about the imbalance of female to male nudity on screen, so thanks for the heads up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 9, 2014 at 6:53 AM

      There always is. I think you'd like this one though. I hope you get to see it.

      Delete
  6. Andrew D.July 8, 2014 at 11:17 PM

    The intention of this comment is to let you know that I've nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award!! Just check out my post for all the rules and have fun with it - after all, you deserve it! Congrats!! http://1001movieman.blogspot.com/2014/07/versatile-blogger-award.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. m.brownJuly 9, 2014 at 12:58 AM

    They probably should have titled this movie, What the fuck, right? As I'm sure that's what everyone says to whomever is closest to them, after that final shot.

    Miraculously, as you touched on, even if this movie gives you so little to work with (at least on first watch), it's still fucking great. That shit is impressive.

    Speaking of what the fuck? I don't remember any real blatant female nudity in this movie at all. Maybe I should watch it again. Like, thirty times in a row. You know, to investigate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 9, 2014 at 6:47 AM

      Ha. Yes, there were a lot of boobs. I know this because whenever I force my husband to watch something with me, I used boobs as a plus for him.

      Delete
  8. asrap virtuosoJuly 10, 2014 at 2:05 AM

    I'm very intrigued by this movie. Gyllenhaal is impressing me more and more with the movies he makes. Plus, I've really enjoy his last collaboration with Denis Vileneuve in Prisoners.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 10, 2014 at 6:23 AM

      So did I. I absolutely loved Prisoners. Gyllenhaal is greatl He's put out some really great stuff since Brokeback Mountain.

      Delete
  9. s.July 10, 2014 at 1:31 PM

    Glad you liked it! I'm still not sure I completely got this movie and it was months since I've seen it.

    That issue with so much female nudity and no male nudity is serious. The world must change in this regard :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 10, 2014 at 2:39 PM

      It is. There's never enough male nudity out there.

      Delete
  10. ruthJuly 10, 2014 at 2:47 PM

    I almost watched this last weekend but then I found out Snowpiercer was released in a theater near me. I might get to it this weekend. It looks so darn creepy, but at least it's not gory so I hope I can stomach this one. Great review Brittani!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 10, 2014 at 5:15 PM

      It's definitely not gory. I think you'll dig it!

      Delete
  11. Lights Camera ReactionJuly 21, 2014 at 7:54 PM

    Gyllenhaal is picking some exciting career decisions. Have you seen the trailer for Nightcrawler?

    ReplyDelete

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