Reviews

I saw this recently and I must say, I was moved by the factual basis of the story. However, "Holly" as a movie did not quite work. I am however, looking forward to watching the documentary which the producers who organised this project had made because I think that would be a much more compelling work than this film.

The international cast was composed of B-class actors but their acting was appropriate, and I must give a special mention for the young actress who played Holly. This was her first movie role and she did a very nice job, considering hers is the most challenging part.

Ron Livingston was adequate but bland as Patrick, the American whose quest is to "save" Holly, but Chris Penn was good in this, his final role. Unfortunately, despite my mostly favourable opinion of Virginie Ledoyen and Udo Kier, both of these actors were very much forgettable and did not do their best work in this film.

I believe in the film's message and intention, but I have to be fair, so I rate "Holly" 3 stars based on its shortcomings as a movie. But I think the subject matter deserves serious consideration and I am pleased that the people behind this movie have made a documentary as well which I hope will have its debut on BBC and other TV networks.

The result is something that resembles "Saint Ange" which is indeed so dreadful that it makes me feel shame and embarrassment for Ms. Ledoyen, Ms. Doillon and the other actors in this disgusting film.

I must say, I watched it because I appreciated the work of the actress that played Anna. She usually makes smart choices in her movies, but she clearly made the worst decision of her career by doing this movie. A bloke who saw this DVD with me joked that Ms. Ledoyen must have been hypnotized, cursed or even hexed to agree to making this movie. I didn't find it very funny at first but given the unfavourable downturn her career has taken after she made this movie, I'm starting to think it might be true.

I appreciate movies like "The Others" or stories like Turn of the Screw which somebody else had mentioned, but trust me, "Saint Ange" is nowhere near their level or category, not even close. "Saint Ange" is a low budget movie that does not even deserve to be seen in a 2 a.m. Friday night frightfest on the telly, much less on DVD or in theatres. That said, the budget makes no matter, because I have seen movies made for even less money that are far better than this awful movie. The problem with "Saint Ange" lies with the director who clearly is in over his head and is not fit for the job at hand. He quite obviously lacks the skill and talent needed to make a real movie.

If you fancy seeing a rehash of every horror scene, every haunted house thriller trick, and demented and sick scenes of innocent children in unpleasant situations, then this would be a movie for you to see. Otherwise, if you are a person of any good taste, morals or decency and appreciate true cinema and good stories, I would advise you to skip this at your local rental store or shopping centre and see another movie instead.