| Driven by a brilliant, ferocious performance by Michael Fassbender, Shame is a real walk on the wild side, a scorching look at a case of sexual addiction that’s as all-encompassing as a craving for drugs. |
My reflections on the movie:
- Overall I liked this movie, albeit it was not without its weaknesses. One thing that bugged me was that some of the scenes were excruciatingly long, particularly since they made their point at least halfway through them, if not sooner. Two that come to mind are:
- The sister's New York New York song in the club she was performing in.
- The run that the protagonist goes on to get away from his apartment for a while.
- It explored a number of things, included but not limited to:
- At what point does an addiction become debilitating?
- Do we have an "obligation" to love or take care of someone just because they are family?
- The acceptance by mainstream society that it's actually natural, desirable, and realistic to have sex with one person most of your life.
- How relationship failure can manifest itself for a sex addict.
- Dysfunctional family relationships.
- Office relationships.
- What makes someone "successful?"
- The extent to which an addict will go to get a "fix"—whatever that might consist of.
- When is reliance on each other "helpful" vs. "co-dependent" vs. "destructive?"
- I wondered why neither the sister nor the brother ever sought therapy to deal with their plethora of issues.
- It had one of those ambiguous endings that make you wonder what other people who saw it thought it meant.
If you go for full male frontal nudity, you'll enjoy the first 10 or 15 minutes of this movie. And I did.