Perfectly delusional - Sadly thrill-LESS

Rating: 2/10 (19 December 2010)

You could say such as: we follow this delusional woman or hard-to-take visit into a woman's not-all-there mind or haunting and most accurate of all films ....on....emotional disorders or this confusion and terror is probably one of the best aspects of the movie or pursued by internal demons but then again these were all said of the 1948's Snake Pit regarded as a classic, ground breaking cinema study of the ravages of mental illness.
Black Swan may will be a 21st century reincarnation of sorts. The title Ballet Pit rings the right bell.
Perhaps it was the fact that the Swan was billed as a 'thriller' that found me chuckling aloud during several scenes where thrills were clearly tossed out the door replaced by delusions or were they delusions? I was taken so far into Nina's head that I quickly waved adieu to any semblance of a real tale of suspense & thrills and instead slide, against all my effort, down Nina's rabbit hole into her world where heads are tails and tails are heads.
I missed several of the major thrills as I averted my eyes while others were on the edge of their seats wondering just how far the macro shots of self mutilation would go. Now those were thrills the film delivered.
Although mother Erica is touted as the slave driving, relentless stage mother she is the one who tells Nina that she is pushing herself too hard and needs to cut back, slow down and ease up on her career.
Aside from the delusional.... I found myself shaking my head at these junctions: A ballet director selecting some one he believes is one dimensional and so is not up to the role? Willing to replace the show's star Nina even after she assures him she is fine and ready to work? Casting couch BITE? By the film's finale I was so far down the rabbit hole that Nina could have metamorphosed into real black and white swans and this would have fit the 'norm' of scene after scene where suspense gave way to guesswork of reality versus delusion. At least Jacob's ladder delivered a suspenseful thrill ride before dropping the final scene s reality gotcha moment.
Swan lake screams gotcha ad nauseam but does this in an otherwise perfectly crafted film. For me....time to watch Snake Pit again.