Low Entertainment Value

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2010)

I was unlucky enough to take a chance on this movie. The good is that Natalie Portman gives an Oscar worthy performance. The bad is that this movie is so intense it is frequently painful to watch. I've even heard some who think it should be classified as a horror movie.
As independent film buffs, my wife and I see a lot of films that are not intended for a wide audience. Fortunately, many are excellent. Although this film was very well made and had excellent direction, it has very low entertainment value.
The one high point of the movie was near the end when Natalie performs as the Black Swan. But this is not worth the price of admission. As is sometimes the case, movies that don't entertain get very high critical reviews. What is surprising to me is that user's gave this movie such a high score. Sometimes, when this happens, I like to see the movie again when it comes out on DVD or cable to see if I was out in left field when I saw it in the theaters. I hated the final Bourne movie in the theaters but found it much more enjoyable on cable. Go figure.