Beautiful, but disturbing

Rating: 3/10 (15 December 2010)

Despite all the symbolic and not-so-symbolic messages successfully driven home, I simply could not buy both sides of Nina (Natalie Portman). Is she obsessed with perfection (over the line psychosis) budding Prima Ballerina with the image issues plaguing many young women...or is she the 12-year old daughter (emotionally) of an over-protective mother living her life vicariously. Complicating the former with the latter, for me, is totally unbelievable.
As the story progresses, we come to realize that much of the unsavory behaviors of the surrounding cast is really only projections of Nina's psychosis. And while Nina's aberrant behavior comes part and parcel with the syndrome plaguing her, the scenes of graphic self-mutilation could have been just as effective with a more Hitchcockian approach or simply left on the cutting room floor. It was these scenes, most of all, that destroyed this film for me.
All-in-all, my first impression upon leaving the theater was...'Well that's 2 hours of my life I'm not getting back'. It was only after further reflection that I felt a rating of 3 out of 10 was warranted....instead of a 1.
That said...this movie will continue to be feted and garner numerous award nominations. And while Natalie Portman will receive the Best Actress nomination many times over...I fear the star who pulled the movie together will be neglected. That is Mila Kunis as Lily. She was entirely believable as both the young understudy and as the evil interloper in Nina's psychotic fantasies. Without Mila's strong performance, this movie would have completely failed.