Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Southern Maternal Love Gone Plumb Mad!, June 27, 2004
"Hush" serves up a down-home southern "charm" that would put Oedipus himself to shame. Only child, Jackson Baring, played by Johnathan Schaech is the quintessential and clueless man-child mama's boy. His love interest and the first girlfriend he has ever brought home to meet his mama (no wonder!), Helen, played quite off-kilter by Gwyneth Paltrow. They journey to the Baring's Thoroughbred Horse Farm, Kilronan for Christmas to meet "mama". Jessica Lange, is mama Martha Baring. Lange superbly but quite over the top plays Jackson's demanding, clinging, cross between Queen Jocasta & Blanche Du Bois on crack mama. Martha fawns, flirts, grabs, and kisses on her only baby boy in quite a non-maternal way through most of the film. Martha is obsessed and quite in love with her own son and has done some "doozies" to keep him where she wants him. Hal Halbrook has a nice couple of scenes as obstetrician, Dr. Franklin Hill and ol' dame, Nina Foch (Spartacus, The Ten Commandments, Scaramouche) turns in a terrific performance as Great Aunt Alice Baring that has been on to Martha for years and knows exactly what she is capable of. Torture, drugging, murder, lust & incestuous thoughts and deeds ensue! A great thriller with decent performances and a strong storyline all the way around. Happy Watching and Be Careful Of Those Momster-In-Laws!
|
|
|
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Underrated, March 19, 2004
I saw Hush in theaters when I was about 11. I remember seeing the trailer on TV, thinking wow this movie is going to be a classic! Well, I saw the movie and I still thought it was a classic--possibly because it was my first exposure to Jessica Lange, who gives an indelible performance. Although many have said Hush is a forgettable film, I believe it is quite the contrary. 1997 was a few years ago and this film stands firmly within my memory. It really is an excellent throwback to the Joan Crawford and Bette Davis thrillers of the 1960s. First, there is beautiful cinematography, a lush score, and excellent acting (besides Gwyneth Paltrow, who positively sucks in this film!). Its true that you long for Lange to hit Paltrow with a lamp, to stop her insufferable whining! This is a far cry from her excellent performance in the recent Sylvia. I guess the thing you will love about Hush is that it is fun to watch. It is not garbage like most people would have you believe, but in fact a very well-made, well-acted, classy thriller with a great score and a great star (Lange). And, for the record, the plot is great!
|
|
|
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hush Hush Sweet Gwyneth, August 24, 2001
Poor Jessica Lange. She must have needed money REALLY bad to do this warmed-over Southern-Fried gothic. But she looks as if she is having the time of her life doing it: she's equal parts Blanche DuBois, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Electra, with a little bit of Dorothy Malone on top. She runs around for the whole of the movie wolfing down whiskey and looking at Johnathon Schaech as if she'd like to take a bite out of him and at Gwyneth Paltrow as if she'd like to bite her too (not for the same reason, though). The wafer-thin plot has Jessica's Mommie Dearest plotting to keep `ole Johnnie down on the farm and breed, then get rid of Paltrow. Since Schaech plays the biggest dunderhead in the Western hemisphere, and Gwynnie is, well, Gwynnie, nobody tumbles to the fact that Mommie is the baddie here `till the last reel. Nobody except Nina Foch, the only bright spot in the movie as Jessica's Mother-in-law, laid up in a nursing home. (Jessica's two scenes with Nina really crackle) This despite the fact that for seemingly the last hour of the movie, mad Mommie is running all over the house trying to stick poor Gwynnie with a syringe full of opiates (anything to get her to stop whining!) As a matter of fact, Gwynnie is the only problem here, her wan, colorless portrayal of the in-danger daughter-in-law is so unbearably grating that you long for Jessica to hit her with a lamp. The only interesting part of her performance is when at the end, where she shows a side to her character that is a lot closer to Mommie than you would think. Ah well. The scenery is gorgeous, most of the principals are as well, and if you can just sort of sit back and enjoy it in a big-budget William Castle kind of way, you'll have a good time.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
DVD ~ Annabella Sciorra
DVD ~ Michael Douglas
DVD ~ Mark Wahlberg
DVD ~ Morgan Freeman
DVD ~ Ashley Judd
DVD ~ Keith Allen
DVD ~ Jessica Lange
DVD ~ Jamie Lee Curtis
DVD ~ Anthony Hopkins
DVD ~ Gwyneth Paltrow
