Worth seeing for Theron alone.

Rating: 4/10 (29 April 2006)

I'm sorry, but I neglect to see what's so great about this movie.
Acting: we all know how great Charlize Theron is in her Oscar-Winning role, so I need not add further comment in risk of sounding redundant. But her character Aileen is so flawed, we don't see her as a three-dimensional serial killer, which would've been the logical thing to do, but instead all we see is a foul-mouthed bi-polar piece of trash...who killed people. Christina Ricci as Selby was also extremely difficult to relate to, let alone sympathize with. She was just an annoying brat who went with Aileen for no apparent reason.
Writing: The writing is TERRIBLE! The script is mind-numbingly bad, wallowing in a pool of mediocrity. I've seen eight year olds who have written better (Literally). The screenplay makes Plan 9 From Outer Space look like Network in comparison. Characters act and react with no apparent reasoning, and it is utterly incapable in holding a narrative story, instead we have a cut and pasted collage of scenes that are just excuses for Aileen and Selby to scream and vomit foul language at each other. The story could've been a "Buring Bed" type of feminist liberation story, which would've been sensible, but instead chooses to focus on the relationship between Aileen and Selby, which sounds good now, but the final-product of just focusing on their relationship makes the film extraordinarily drawn-out.
Direction: In attempts to create a suitably bleak atmosphere, director Patty Jenkins shoots in very simplistic ways, instead of having a lot of fancy camera movement, etc. However, the end product doesn't look artistically bleak like intended, just boring. Albeit, yes, I will admit that the rape scene was played appropriately, well, disturbing and gruesome, but it doesn't compensate for the rest of the movie, which is bland, and doesn't hold our interest in any way.
Final Comment: Save yourself from wasting money on this film, and instead jam forks in your eye-sockets, which doesn't sound so bad after seeing this film.