Rating of
3/4
Authentic all the way to the next fix.
goodfellamike - wrote on 04/05/08
Down to the Bone is one of those independent movies you stumble upon and are pleasantly surprised by its content and quality of acting. It's the kind of film you wish Hollywood made more often. It's about a scanner at a grocery store who is trapped in a boring marriage and harbors a secret drug addiction. Vera Farmiga has the difficult challenge of making Irene a very sympathetic character (even as she tries to buy drugs with her children's birthday money.) We empathize with her character and recognize the injustice as we watch her lose her job because she admits to her boss that she's only slower at her job because she is now off drugs; when she was high all the time, she excellened and management had no complaints. She attends rehab, has a relapse and finds a certain escape with another former junkie. There is not a false note in Farmiga's brave interpretation. Down to the Bone has a deliberate pace and leaves us wanting to know more about the outcomes of its characters, but it's is a revealing look at wounded lives. Final Grade: B+
