Elyse

source: Elyse

If anyone is asking how Anthony Hopkins signed up for this exercise-in-tripe, I'll spare you a trip to Google. His wife--and boy oh boy, did she ever belch out (I mean, direct) a 'doozy.' Hands-down, some of the worst acting by an ensemble (if we can actually call it that) one will ever see. No joke intended--this is smack dab along the caliber of. Tommy Wiseau's "The Room." And that's without the relief of an occasional laugh. On the positive end, I'm confident that this will ensure us that Lisa Pepper will never become a mainstay on our silver screens. From the lousy, soporific screenplay to the lead performance from film school hell, this should have taken the lion's share of the Golden Raspberry Awards, but didn't. Why? The only reason I can think of is that it is SO bad it's beyond parody. Venture to it at your own risk.

It's a great story probably millions survived in different ways around the globe. Western culture is built on materialism. Ownership and selfishness. When God takes some of your valuables, people crash to the wall and fall apart. Yes only medicine is God and time. Great acting. Probably one of the most underrated movie of the year.

The movie was great for me. It lets you get in the mood of the main character, and it does it pretty good.

This is a good portrayal of a woman who is severely disturbed by psychiatric problems. It is slow, but engaging.

We watched this movie only because of Anthony Hopkins, but ended up with a shallow, cheap and ordinary one. It could have been a great movie if there would be more phycological background, more analysis, more .....

While it seems the intent of the movie is to take the viewer on a journey to illustrate struggles of mental illness, it took odd twists and turns that didn't benefit the plot. Acting of certain characters seemed forced. I wouldn't see it again.

"Elyse! Are you aware that there may be something ... (dramatic pause) wrong?" Dr. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) The titular Elyse (Lisa Pepper) has indeed something wrong: catatonia. Her state, as diagnosed by her psychiatrist, Dr. Lewis, involves strange behavior and unresponsiveness. Her remedy calls for electric shock therapy, which sends her into herself and requires long months of therapy. And so it goes in the drama Elyse, a story much more than just about diagnosis and therapy. In its minimalist approach by writer/director Stella Hopkins (Anthony's wife), relationships are the drama and maybe the cause for her mental illness. Her relationship with her husband Steve Bridges (Aaron Tucker) is remote and frosty, a combination of her neuroses and his interest elsewhere. Elyse's jealousy about their live-in governess, Carmen (Tara Arrovave), and Elyse's combative relationship with her mother as well as her uneven attitude toward Steve's co-workers, point to an unbalanced heroine not helped at all by her pod of people. The director gently and slowly lets the actors play their parts in Elyse's undoing, including Elyse herself. When Dr. Phillips is on camera, not enough for my taste, the film moves into a rich buffet of words and ideas, all minimalist but calling for more, so powerful is Hopkins in a role the opposite of Hannibal Lecter but strangely similar in the magnetic hold the actor has on his words. It's not so much that Phillips sets things right; it's that he sets in motion the thoughts and actions that seem right for the situation, relieving the audience's tension as it worries about the heroine's fate. Adding to the cool tension are the contrasting black and white photography and a modern house whose glass and sharp corners reflect the loneliness and danger Elyse experiences. No matter what you think of the drama and dialogue, Elyse gives you an introduction to the malady of catatonia that you will never forget.

WTF was this? Did the director, Hopkins wife, find this script in Woody Allen's recycle bin? Did Sir Anthony need a paycheck? The only thing that would make this worse is if Nick Cage made an appearance.

Not to put spoilers I keep it a little vague. There are some information given close to the end of the movie that are a: Oh, that's why. To withhold this information to the end makes the movie go totally down the drain. It was totally out of scope while it should have been the topic all along. I still gave it a 6, because I rounded up for good acting in some parts. I think without Antony Hopkins in it, I would have given up on the movie in the beginning. Lisa Pepper did some good acting and I liked the performance of Tara Arroyave too. Unfortunately acting cannot really make a story with the wrong turns a good movie.