At First Glance

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2011)

Never wait to see a film after awards season. That is what I did and it may have tainted my expectations a bit. Personally, I was very excited to see Black Swan. I had been diligently following the film before they had even started shooting. I like some of Natalie's work and was intrigued to see some of Aronofsky's. Ballet is also a big interest of mine. I love psychological thrillers, or any film that toys w/ my mind and makes me think. So Black Swan from the beginning had the perfect ingredients for me. My mistake though was that I did not get to see the film until after awards season. After all of the hype, the praise, the pageantry. I think the overkill pumped my expectations up too much and it made the movie seem a bit lackluster when I finally saw it. The runtime was too short for my taste, and I don't think the director and cast pushed the story and characters as far as they could have. I had the feeling they were either being generic at some points or playing it safe. I did not even favor Natalie that much in her performance. I know there was a lot of praise for her, and I do not mean to diminish the work she put into her performance, but it was not as earth shattering as some people found it. To me Black Swan did not take the leap it could have, it did not push its boundaries farther (as a film, the characters, the stories, etc.) It teetered between going all the way and playing it safe. It was okay to me in the end. I honestly would have found more enjoyment in seeing a production of Swan Lake as opposed to this film. Maybe I should have done that.