When All Else Fails, Destroy The Set

Rating: 4/10 (31 May 1999)

A promising start which takes far too much of itself to dwindle away. I enjoyed the first few "attacks" (suitably impressed with Max's medical gear), but Aronofsky's ever-expanding spiral could not effectively suspend my disbelief. Gullette's hyperbolic performance tears up all possible tension, and the proto-symbolism tires (mashed brains... I see...). Secondary characters are poorly drawn, badly made-up, and have no qualms with shouting their base motivations just as Max repeatedly states his experimental assumptions ("I don't care about YOU! I just want what's in your HEAD!"). Even the worthy shock exit is weakened by the lingering denouement.
If only his mother had told him something else. Anything else.