Mysterious Skin

Last night I watched Mysterious Skin. I kind of liked it, but with a movie like this you can't exactly like it because its subject matter is just too awful. Molestation, prostitution and rape are present in abundance and there was one scene I simply had to get up and leave the room for. This being said, the story itself was well done. I haven't read the book this movie is based on, so I can say nothing of its screen adaptation (by Greg Araki) but it was powerful. It's the story of two small town boys both changed by the summer of 1981. The film shows both boys' perspectives of that summer and other especially important dates through flashbacks and voice overs. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays a rather compelling character (though not lovable, no I would not say lovable or even very likable), is striking. Striking because he does a pretty good job as this guy and is very much not his 'Third Rock From The Sun' character, or his '10 Things I Hate About You' persona. The weakest acting award goes to Michelle Trachtenberg (formerly known as Dawn from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)...she's just not very good and kind of takes away from the movie.

There is a lot of rather explicit sex and I cannot stress enough that this movie is really disturbing in its depictions of child molestation. So yeah, if you're up to a really hard-to-take movie then you should might maybe want to watch this...though you are forewarned to its graphic content.