Anyone who has seen the film Strangers on a Train in the last 20 years has likely been given the lecture beforehand about how the film is Hitchcock’s treatise on the identity of the closeted gay man in the 1950s, playing on stereotypes associated with homosexuality at the time. Bruno’s commitment to the double-murder truce with acquaintance Guy is allegedly a symbolic embodiment of Bruno’s taboo sexuality, and his dangerous and manic demeanor a reflection of society’s fear of gay people…I don’t know, breaking into their homes and murdering them or something.
In Breaking the Girls, director Jamie Babbitt (of lesbian cult classic But I’m a Cheerleader) takes Hitchcock’s story and makes two significant changes (aside from it being set in 2011, of course): the accomplices in question are women, and the ‘Bruno’ character is an open lesbian.
The plot follows Sara (Agnes Bruckner), a law student trying to make ends meet on her own, who happens upon Alex (Madeline Zima), a dark and mysterious young woman who, on one fateful night, chooses to sit down at the bar Sara is tending. From there, the plot follows the natural Hitchcock-ian premise: Sara wants revenge on Brooke, the current squeeze of her would-be lover Eric (Shawn Ashmore) and Alex wants to dispatch her stepmother Nina, a former flame of hers who has recently ditched her to marry Alex’s stepfather. How ever shall they solve this problem?
The film is highly entertaining with a killer soundtrack and relatively solid performances from its actors (it’s not their fault that several of them are miscast). Babbitt’s direction is crisp and visually interesting, and the writing, while by no means stellar, is certainly several steps up from Meth Head. And I can say whole-heartedly that the twist at the end was genuinely a surprise.
Unfortunately, it just can’t shake the fact that it’s relying on a plot that has been done. It’s tough to try and reinvent a classic, but there’s not much reinvention here other than the genders. If anything, Alex’s out status hinders the intrigue of the plot. What makes Strangers so sophisticated is that it is ultimately discussing the nature of homophobia and the misconceptions about gay people. Alex’s sexuality is never an issue in this film, and while there are merits in that, it loses a major element of purpose from the film to which it is paying homage.
Sadly it seems distributors have felt the same way. It’s worth noting that the film was made in 2011 and only now getting into festivals fall of 2013. It’s a shame because Babbitt is clearly an important voice in our generation of LGBT cinema, but this one doesn’t quite have the originality of Cheerleader.
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