Aaronovsky histrionic campfest

Rating: 5/10 (2 March 2011)

Gasp as she breaks a nail! Thrill as she stubs her toe! Rush to the bathroom as she gets a scratch on her back! Portman's character is unbearable. Can it really be possible that someone this insular ever went to an audition, let alone performed in front of an audience in any capacity? I cannot think so. There are many nice moments in this film, like the scenes with Winowna Ryder in them, and I have no complaints about the acting, yet why make a psychological thriller about a character with no psychology to speak of? I found it impossible to care about this insufferable twit of a woman. It seems to me that Aaronovsy's histrionic characters, like the dancer/ wrestler/ drug addict/ maths genius who goes out in a blaze of glory, are merely there to compensate for an inability to tell a story well enough to keep us interested.