Product: The Dead Girl (2006)
Rating: 4.0
edgy fractured tales surrounding the murder of a woman...
The Dead Girl (2006) is a thoughtful and poignant film that features five separate stories that are all related to a single event, the murder of a young woman. Written by Karen Moncrieff, the stories resonate and touch the heart to varying degrees, while mostly reflecting a female point of view. The sensitivity of the writing and the meaty characters, are no doubt why the film garnered such a superb cast, and contains such deep and emotional performances. While there are more than a few convenient coincidences, and some segments are stronger than others, the overall story holds together nicely, and presents a unique perspective of a tragedy. Most who view the film can't help but be touched to some extent. (Some mild spoilers follow)The story is told non-chronologically, and begins with "The Stranger", where a woman named Arden (Toni Collette) discovers the dead body of a woman on the farm where she lives with her invalid mother (Piper Laurie). After being interviewed on the news, Arden becomes something of a celebrity, a fact that results in only scorn and criticism from her tyrannical and controlling mother. Arden's notoriety leads to her being asked on a date by Rudy (Giovanni Ribisi) a mildly creepy supermarket clerk, which in turn opens a whole new page in both Arden's and her mother's life.Coincidence plays a major factor in "The Sister" as Leah (Rose Byrne), a medical student working in the medical examiner's office, believes that the dead woman is her sister, who mysteriously disappeared some 15 years ago. Leah's family has never recovered from the tragedy, an event that still weighs heavily on them all.In "The Wife", Mary Beth Hurt plays Ruth, a woman who discovers evidence that her husband Carl (Nick Searcy), who runs a warehouse storage business, is a serial killer. When Ruth confronts him, he admits nothing. Now Ruth must decide what to do.There are probably few, who would not be truly moved by Marcia Gay Harden's heartbreaking performance as Melora Kutcher in "The Mother". Harden plays the mother of the dead woman, who has been identified as her daughter Krista. Looking for some closure Melora visits the dingy apartment where Krista lived with her roommate Rosetta (Kerry Washington). The crushing emotional burden of knowing that her daughter was murdered and left naked in a field, gets even heavier when she learns from Rosetta that Krista was a prostitute. One more shock is coming her way, when she discovers that Krista was the mother of a little girl, who is now alone in the world."The Dead Girl" brings the story almost full circle, as we follow Krista (Brittany Murphy) on the last day of her life. She has bought a doll as a birthday present for her daughter, who is staying at a nearby town with a sitter. It's too late to have the doll delivered, so she plans to get a ride and deliver it personally. The nature of Krista's relationship with her roommate Rosetta is clarified, as at the end of a tumultuous day Krista finds herself hitchhiking in need of a ride, when Carl happens by and picks her up.A multi-faceted tale that revolves around a sad tragic event, The Dead Girl pushes a number of emotional buttons, as Karen Moncrieff's terrific screenplay brings forth a number of powerful performances, with Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Beth Hurt, and the late Brittany Murphy, perhaps shining the brightest among them. The Dead Girl is hardly a feel good experience, but is a film is well worth your time.