Nymphomaniac Volume 1

Parental Rating: NC-17

Contains: Language    Nudity    Violence    Sex    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens March 21, 2014

Runs 117 minutes

Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) stumbles upon a brutally beaten women who appears nearly unconscious in the middle of the road.  He wants to call the authorities but she says she really just needs to rest.  He takes her home, gives her a clean robe and puts her to bed with some hot tea. Once she is feeling better, he finds out that her name is Jo (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and she is a self-professed nymphomaniac, which has led to all of the problems in her life and her current predicament.  She begins to tell him her life story by recounting all of her physical relationships, beginning with the loss of her virginity to Shia LaBeouf (yes, that Shia LaBeouf). In the flashbacks she is portrayed by Stacy Martin as a young Jo.  There are various other stars in her flashbacks including Christian Slater as her father and Connie Nielsen as her mother.  There is one hilarious scene with Uma Thurman as the wronged wife of one of Jo's conquests. Then the movie just stops when it feels like it so you can anticipate Volume 2.

This movie was funnier than it should have been (and I'm not sure that it was supposed to be funny). Directed by the incendiary Lars Von Trier, I should have known what I would be getting.  I have yet to like one of his movies even though he is loved by the critics.  His movies always seem mean, rambling and explicit. This is no exception.  I have heard that Volume 2 is much better because we get more of Charlotte Gainsbourg. It can't be any worse.

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