StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

mach2003-634-25944 I don't think I have ever written a review on here, but felt compelled to for the waste of 97 minutes. Unless you are looking for the one last straw that will push you over the edge and give you the motivation you need to kill yourself, don't watch this movie. The movie is the quintessential example of artists (in this case the writer/director) who, like Weiss' character, are so delusional that they think because they change something they have made art. The irony is that anyone who can rationally think and empathize will arrive at the end and despise Weiss' character for being exactly what the director is. Just because you *can* do something does not mean you *should* do something. With so many things, maybe the reason no one has done it before is because everyone else realized it was a horrible idea. Weiss never learns that in the movie, the director unfortunately didn't learn it before making this, and Focus films apparently has managed to stay in business without grasping the fact either. People who cannot create amazing art apparently create crap and then spend their time in Art Philosophy class so they can teach themselves how to try and rationalize and convince the world that they are somehow on par with those that actually have talent. The world would be better off if they just stayed working at Blockbuster and hating their lives by themselves instead of being dark clouds on the world.

ametaphysicalshark Until I watched "The Shape of Things" a few hours ago my only exposure to acclaimed modern playwright Neil LaBute were a few clips of Nicholas Cage's apparently horrible performance in LaBute's apparently abysmal remake of the unforgettable British horror classic "The Wicker Man". With my interest in theater, modern theater specifically, growing rapidly with every passing day, it was inevitable that I would sit down and watch a Neil LaBute film, one adapted from one of his own plays for the screen."The Shape of Things" is a further extension of my lucky streak with recent movie picks, as I have either really liked or loved all of my past six film viewings, and this film belongs in the latter group. A comedy so dark I felt guilty for laughing, a film so dramatically compelling and ultimately devastating that I was left literally close to tears by the end of it. It's easy to see how many could really, really hate this movie. It's cruel, misanthropic, bleak, its sense of humor is twisted, and it's really not 'fun' at all.Although I'm sure some will disagree, "The Shape of Things" is one of that rare breed of film I like to call the 'night-ruiner'. LaBute's screenplay, which is probably almost exactly the same as his original play, is a deft, clever, interesting examination of a number of things: friendship, how easily influenced we can be, how we perceive each other, the nature of art, and more, but works ultimately thanks to its emotional impact. A play (or screenplay) of this sort never amounts to anything if the characters aren't compelling and from start to finish these characters most certainly are. Adam is the lead character, played excellently by Paul Rudd in one of the more demanding roles he's taken on, and along with Gretchen Mol's character Jenny he's really the only decent character in the film. Frustratingly naive, but nice enough. All the performances are good enough for the material, and LaBute's direction is very basic but effective enough. I can definitely see how he could fail when taking on a bigger project not adapted from his own work, but I'll wait and see for myself.Sure, nobody's going to call this a masterpiece of subtlety anytime soon, but lots of great drama is in-your-face, and this is rich enough that when a character stands up and speaks to us for several minutes about some of the things the film is about it doesn't feel dumb or unnecessary, but fairly effective and interesting. There's other stuff the screenplay and the film doesn't shove in our face, and the last half hour probably works because it's so upfront about things. It's a very theatrical presentation, and probably works better in that setting, but the film is still a fast-paced, well-written, and fairly enthralling examination of human behavior and how we look at each other.

royvictoresq LaBute doesn't like people, either his characters or his audiences. He does like to shock with a tale of cold-hearted sadism, manipulation,& degradation. All four characters & the audience are degraded. You wind up hating her. A sensationally cold calculating feminist monster. But she is not real.A one off deliberately created to shock by the male writer.It is rare for a couple to have repeated sex without affection.It is one of the tricks biology plays on us to ensure the survival of the species.It's why some men fall in love with hookers. The film's notions of the morality of artists are more than somewhat jaundiced. As Damien Hirst says "Life is more important than art".It is incongruent that she is so upset by the fig leaf & the quest for artistic "truth" yet blacks her victims face out while publicly humiliating him. An ugly & dispiriting film. It does make you think, but that is because she is so lacking in any human warmth as to be unbelievable & monstrous.

musebiz This is one of the most interesting movies I've ever seen, and I've seen a few over the last 50 years. It is yet another wake up call for Americans, in the spirit of recent documentaries like Fahrenheit 911 and An Inconvenient Truth. This film is an indictment of our prejudices towards the abnormal, especially physical appearance (eg sexism, ageism, racism), and our hypocritical relationship to the truth of our own feelings, particularly in our intimate relationships. Put that together with the corruption, duplicity and violence of our political life highlighted in Fahrenheit 911, and the careless and dangerous disregard of our relationship to the Earth demonstrated in An Inconvenient Truth, and you get a picture of America that is beyond disturbing. Thank you and congratulations to writer/director Neil LaBute and producer/actress Rachel Weisz (her emotional believability and fluidity in this film are chilling). How this film grossed under $1 mil is a mystery to me. Maybe this is not a message we're ready to hear yet. Please see this film.