Boxing Helena (Widescreen)

Couldn't control my giggles at Bill Paxton with a mullet overacting in every scene. Julian Sands character was such a wimp. In his case, hamming his performance up might have been better in this movie. Didn't care for him at all, even with his sexy accent. Sherilyn Fenn, I was wishing Julian Sands character would take our her lungs.

(...)

The ending....it could have been ten times better without that silly dream sequence.

And don't get me started on the sex scene. Julian Sands kissing HElena Bonham Carter at the end of A Room With A View was ten times sexier than the scene in Boxing Helena.

If I could give it less than 1 star I would. I wondered why after seeing A Room With A View, how come I haven't seen him in anything else. After watching garbage like Boxing Helena I understand. Must try and find another good Julian Sands movie now, if there is one to be had besides A Room With A View. Boxing Helena was not it.


Haunting and evocative film   November 18, 2003
Approximately 3/4 of the way through this film, there is a wonderful scene between Julian Sands' character and the Fantasy Lover/Nurse played by Nicolette Scorsese. The background music is from Enigma's Sadeness Pt.1 and this one scene alone makes viewing the entire film worthwhile.
On an entirely different note, this film boasts small supporting roles by, of all people, Art Garfunkel(Simon & Garfunkel)and Kurtwood Smith(Red from That 70's Show and Clarence Boddicker from Robocop). What a world!!


A DUD!   October 1, 2003
Brian Dorton (Lou. KY)
First and only time director Jennifer Chambers Lynch (daughter of David Lynch) tries following in daddy's foot steps, the result is a faulty misfire of a movie without an ounce of quality or value. To add insult to injury the performances are just as bad as the direction. Passing on this script and project was the best thing Kim Basinger ever did. Was it the director's fault, the actor's fault? Well maybe. But I think the whole promise was a bad idea.


Buy This Now   September 25, 2003
CharlesTurner (Los Angeles)
This is an amazing movie in every way. After watching it, I want to find a girl with no arms or legs to date! Hot!


provocative concept but extremely uneven in every way   July 1, 2003
Okay. As a huge David Lynch fan (I gather like many folks who went to see the film), I thought I have a look at his daughter's film debut (and only film to date? I wonder why) to see what all the fuss was about. I remember the film when it was in theaters a decade ago. I also recalled the whole controversy over Kim Basinger's departure from the project.

Seeing the DVD on the shelf in my favorite video store, I decided to give it a chance. Well, I have to say I don't see what the big hoopla was all about. The film played like a pumped up B movie potboiler melodrama and/or parody of one. Because Jennifer Chambers Lynch couldn't decide on the "tone" of the film, we are left to guess what her intentions were. I agree with other reviewers that the camerawork is extremely pretentious in a bad way and the script leaves much to be desired.

Dr. Nick Cavanagh (Julian Sands) is obsessed with the very chilly and cruel Helena (Sherilyn Fenn) after having a one night stand with her awhile back. She loathes him and wants nothing to do with him. His equally chilly and cruel mom has just passed away and left him the palatial family estate. He moves in and things go downhill for him from there.

I think if this film had been released under more subtle circumstances such as the work of a first-time filmmaker and been thought of as an experimental indie instead of commercial studio fare by the daughter of David Lynch, it would have been received more positively. The controversy may have generated audience interest in the film initially but it certainly didn't sustain it. I would argue it actually hurt the film's reception in general.

I like the idea of exploring the nature of a man's sexual obsession and his enslavement to it but like many others, I don't buy into "Boxing Helena" premise. Set mainly in this mansion of sorts, Cavanagh is Dr. Frankenstein and Helena is his "creation." Is his idealized woman one without arms and legs? Is beauty just skin deep? We never get a sense of "why" Nick is obsessed with her. He has a seemingly understanding girlfriend - why Helena over her. Additionally, Fenn's character of Helena is so underdeveloped and one-dimensional. She does okay in the part nevertheless. Sands' Nick is also at a loss as well. I'm thinking a derivative of a Norman Bates for the 1990s. With all his mother issues, you would think an intelligent man would seek a shrink asap. At least, his colleagues at the hospital should have noticed the doctor's odd behavior and institutionalized him on the spot. Poor Julian Sands - he is not a bad actor but seems to be stuck in some bad movie projects. Also, why is Art Garfunkel in this film!?!? Bill Paxton has a supporting role as Helena's studly, wannabe rocker/musician (?) boyfriend but he is also underutilized in the film except for acting out the macho man that Nick isn't apparently.

Also, one thing I did find hilarious are the extra-textual references to Sands' earlier film, Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View (1986)in which he played the enigmatic hero George Emerson who romances and wins the young heroine Lucy Honeychurch, played by actress Helena Bonham-Carter! If you watch the film, pay attention to the soundtrack and dialogue.
Is Lynch taking a stab at Merchant-Ivory's polite notion of love's passions? Maybe and may not since there isn't any guiding focus to the film.

Though highly flawed, you may want to have a look and have fun playing the critic.