On the Doll (2008)

Sex. Violence. Revenge. On The Doll is a dark look into the lives of sex workers and the affect it has had on their lives. Balery (Brittany Snow) is a call girl desperate for cash who conspires with Jaron (Josh Janowicz) to rob one of her regulars. Chantal (Shanna Collins) wants out of her door to door exploits to start life over with her boyfriend and Tara (Angela Sarafyan) has been pulled so far into her seedy peep show underworld that it could be too late. Mr. Garrett (Eddie Jimison), is a high school teacher who looks to bring some of his students (Candice Accola & Chloe Domont) into his world of sex and drugs. And behind it all is Jimmy Sours (Paul Ben-Victor), a twisted mastermind of the sex trade who controls the fate of everyone mixed up in his world. A cast of young, up and coming actors takes you to a place where victims search for new meaning in their lives, while fighting off the demons that lead to more pain. The first feature by acclaimed music video director Thomas Mignone, On The Doll is a shocking, but powerful look into a world that is sure to strike a chord. Product Description

Good Production, but the Subject, ehhhh.

This is a very strange movie. It had moments of brillance and moments of stupidity. If it hadn't been for those brilliant moments, this would have been a 1 star movie.

This is a story of three very separate lives that eventually come together at the end of the film. The director plays with the timeline in a pretty remarkable way, there's flash forward, flash back, and real time. The director was masterful with the movie's timeline. Everything makes some level of sense at the very end.

Along the way, the trip is pretty darn rocky. There's a lot that would offend most. Oddly there's almost no nudity in this film. Just be aware, this is definately an NC-17 film, although it is unrated.

Film-wise, there's some pretty interesting things going on.
There's moments where the sound is so perfect, so spot on, you would swear that action is absolutely happening in your room. When somebody was banging on a door and a dog was barking, I actually got up to see if that was really happening. Then there are times where the dialog is almost unintelligable, like they ran out of money for the sound man during the reshoots.
Images, there are beautiful scenes, perfectly composed, shot, and lit. A special effect with a bullet that was kind of cool (a bit Matrix-ish, but good nonetheless). But then there are scenes where it looked like a high school film class with a video camera shot the scene - or could have done a better job.

The ending is a bit strange. My first reaction was, oh no, it's the JFK bullet. Sadly, if a film about this particular topic has me thinking that at the end, it's probably not the best ending in the world.

I can really only recommend this film to somebody with incredibly broad tastes, or somebody that really loves film for film sake. You have to check a huge amount of morality to get drawn in. Then again, don't we check our sense of right and wrong at the door when we watch a slasher film? This is not a slasher film, but it's the same concept.

There is a far better film about this particular topic. This Girl's Life, with James Woods as a father with Parkinson's disease, and Juliette Marquis.
This Girl's Life (Unrated Version)
December 4, 2008

fantastic movie

well this movie looks like happiness and crash if you like this kind of movie you will love this one there is a little longueur in the middle but the end is very good so i enjoy it a lot July 15, 2008

Almost

Just a forwarning to those of whom were expecting something else. On The Doll was filmed and edited masterfully. This was the film's strongest point in my opinion. Everything else was, ehhhh... I was looking forward to seeing this for a week or so as I though it sounded interesting, and the fact that it had been totally rented out since it's release date. Within five or ten minutes one can see the gorgeous camera work with an atmospheric soundscape that seemed to be well done, encompassing fairly shallow acting that seemed to be, not so well done.
Lots of potential threading through this storyline which, cleverly enough, encompassed three different scenarios into one inevitable downward spiral. Also, for those whom like me, rented this in hopes of some grotesque scenery will be terribly dissappointed. I believe that the castration that happens within the last five minutes of the film is the only reason the MPAA refused to grant an R rating. That's all you get here gorehounds, and though the effects were realistic enough, the inclusion of this seemed rather arbitrary, since it was supposedly an accident. If you want my opinion, stear clear of this and try "Descent" with Rosario Dawson. It is a lot slower paced, but more professionally executed and thus creating more effect. I tried this one out hoping for lots of sex, drugs, and gore, and was suprised when I became bored with the film's direction, and irritated with the subpar acting. Just my take... June 24, 2008

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