Hysterical Blindness (2002 TV Movie)
3/10
Hysterical Blindness was, well, bland.
27 August 2002
I looked forward to watching Hysterical Blindness, as the HBO promos showed some promise. It is the story of two 20 something New Jersey women coping with dead-end lives by hanging out at the local bar, Ollie's. The script did not tell enough of a story to keep me interested. I felt the story was very predictable, no surprise what happens after Debby and Rick sleep together.

The main characters were not sympathetic at all. I had to force myself to watch the entire movie. Debby (Uma Thurman) and Beth (Juliette Lewis) were selfish and self-pitying. We get glimpses of their back-stories to perhaps help the audience understand their behavior. But even then I could not bring myself to care what caused their immaturity.

Uma's character did not have enough of a character arc, and I was hoping Beth would but to no avail. Juliette Lewis gave a good performance, subtly desperate but trying to keep a good face as a single mom. Uma's was too over the top. I did not think her looks worked against her, she looked very 80's cheap Lycra bimbo. Her gestures and accent were not believable. The best scenes in the movie involved Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, and I would have preferred a story where they were the lead characters.
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