Just a mess

Rating: 3/10 (20 January 2015)

I do not understand Black Swan's receipt of so much critical acclaim or box office popularity. To me the film is a mess and not worth seeing.
The story is about a competition between 2 ballerinas for the lead role in the production of Swan Lake at a prestigious NYC ballet company. Fine so far. I am not a big fan of ballet, but I can appreciate the rigor of the dancers' training, the competition among the performers for the spotlight, and the grace and athleticism of their performance. What I cannot appreciate is director Darren Aronofsky's muddled approach to this world's presentation, including the representation in the psychologically disturbed world of one of lead characters (Natalie Portman in an Oscar-winning performance). The characters are two dimensional, the script is a hackneyed jumble of film clichés, and the plot is obvious. If you love dance and want to see films about it, there are far better ones to see, including the seminal, The Red Shoes, as well as Julia, to name just two.
The only good thing I can say about this film is that it better than Mr. Aronofsky's followup project, Noah, which is even worse.