Lucky McKee's movie is supposed to be a droll, darkly comic fable of alienation and wish fulfillment, but the structurally flaccid, visually unpleasant May instead resembles a Troma picture with unrealized pretensions. The title character, played as a bundle of tics and mannerisms by Angela Bettis, is a preternaturally shy young woman with a hideous doll for a best friend who desperately wants to connect with a real person. When all her efforts fail, she seizes on advice her mother once gave her (“if you need a friend, make one”) and, like a modern-day Frankenstein, undertakes to construct a companion out of bits and pieces of corpses--the guy who jilted her, a lesbian coworker, and a few other unfortunate victims. To succeed, this sort of gruesome nonsense requires very precise stylization and timing, but May exhibits neither narrative nor cinematic flair, with most of the running time devoted to lackadaisical setup leading up to the particularly ugly, poorly staged denouement. Like May's creation, the movie is a revolting assemblage of sloppily connected parts. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Lucky McKee, costars Angela Bettis, Bret Roberts, and Nichole Hiltz, cinematographer Steve Yedlin, and editor Chris Silverston; the other by McKee, composer Jaye Barnes, production designer Leslie Keel, editor Rian Johnson, and Benji, the Craft Services Guy). Bottom line: lots of talk for such a little film.] (F. Swietek)
May
Lions Gate, 95 min., R, VHS: $44.99, DVD: $24.99, July 15 Volume 18, Issue 4
May
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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