Alexandra's Project (2003) Reviews

• Thought provoking but not very likable

  currie-652-9328142010-04-18

  It certainly is a thought provoking film, but it seems so mean spirited, and the characters so unlikeable, that it's hard to like it, even though it's undeniably interesting. Of course Steve, the husband, is a pretty clueless and clumsy character, but considering that Alexandra makes it pretty plain that she's been disgusted with their sex life and probably everything else since the honeymoon, her inability or unwillingness to articulate this, or to bring any of her real problems up until the event of the movie makes her long and carefully planned response viciously passive-aggressive, to the point of true craziness. To say that he drove her crazy, even if true in a way, doesn't make her any less crazy. To say, more or less, "I've gone through the last 14 years saying yes but meaning no, and because you didn't guess, now I'm going to ruin your life" is plum crazy even if the guy is a jerk. I still give it a few points for good acting, a reasonable bit of tension, and for making me think a bit after it's over, even if only to reflect on why it bothers me.

• One of a kind cruel and demented psycho-sexual thriller

  Indyrod2006-03-11

  What a cruel demented movie this is, from the same distributors as "Wolves in the Snow", one of my favorite thrillers this year without a doubt. This Australian movie is much different, as it is about a man, Steve, celebrating his birthday. His morning starts with happy birthday stuff from his lovely family and his pretty wife Alexandra. But before leaving for work, his Wife tells him her main birthday present for him will be when he returns from work. He goes to work thinking everything is rosy, has a great day, they have a surprise party for him, and then he gets called in and receives a promotion. WOW, Steve is definitely having a great birthday, and he still has his lovely Wife's surprise gift to look forward to. When he arrives home, everything is dark, all the light bulbs have been removed, nobody is in sight, not his children, not his Wife, nobody. Furniture has been turned upside down, and Steve is still thinking Alexandra is playing a cute little joke on him and searches around his home, but finds nothing UNTIL!!!! In one room, he finds a package from his wife with a videotape inside, with a label that says "play me". His easy chair is all ready for him, with a VCR and television waiting. When he starts playing the tape, his Wife gives him a happy birthday message, and then goes into a slow strip tease for him, and Steve is smiles from ear to ear. BUT, things go rapidly downhill from there, and before long, Steve is starting to wish this whole thing is a bad nightmare. Steve gets subjected to remorse, deception and revenge, and then even a bigger shock, as the tape stops, but the video feed continues revealing that the next portion is indeed live, and he is locked in his house. This is a one of a kind psycho-sexual thriller, and I have never seen a movie like this before, and it had me mesmerized to say the least. It goes all the way from being highly erotic, to down right as mean spirited as hell. The studio that is putting these movies out, is the first to release award winning movies at theaters and on DVD at the same time. And based on the only two I have seen so far, the movies are remarkable. The subscription service is located at www.filmmovement.com , and definitely deserves attention.

• The movie most likely to make you hurl your popcorn at the screen

  rooprect2013-01-21

  "Alexandra's Project" begins masterfully, setting a dark and heavy mood long before the plot reveals itself. When the plot does reveal itself, it is done craftily, piece by piece, as if you were a bird being led into a trap one crumb at a time. This is exactly how the main character is trapped also. For the first hour I loved this film and couldn't believe I had never heard of such an intelligent thriller before. This abruptly turned when the complex story quickly unravelled to a cheap rip off of every bad Hollywood cat-and-mouse flick ever made. How did this happen? Because the lead character who, for the first half of the movie, was shown to be smart, resourceful and level-headed, turns into a whiskey swilling moron, gets drunk and spends the the last half of the movie soaking in self-pity while not taking the obvious actions to fix the situation. That's what I mean in my title. You will be so aggravated at how dense the main character becomes that you will likely hurl your popcorn at the screen in disgust. Like in those cheap slasher flicks when the murderer is hiding in the house, and somehow the idiot victim decides it's a good idea to go into that dark room anyway. Cheap thrills are fun in cheap movies, but I was led to expect a bit more from this award-winning film. The message of the film itself, offensive as it may be to some, wasn't what bothered me. The movie ridicules feminism by portraying the villain as a rabid, man-hating, feminist psycho. But my gripe isn't about that. My gripe is the fact that the villain's plan turned out to be totally half-baked, and only a total dolt would play into it. A simple call to the cops, and all the bad guys could've been traced, rounded up and punished. But no, instead let's get plastered on whiskey and feel sorry for ourselves until the end of time. As others have commented, the characters and their actions defy sensibility. I actually recommend that you watch this film so you'll see how a great idea can come apart with shoddy writing. This movie will probably leave you feeling sickened, not by the plot or the director's message but simply by the director's ability to ruin an otherwise good idea. Four stars out of 10, only because it did keep me interested for an hour.

• Australia's Funniest Home Videos?

  Coventry2010-07-04

  "Alexandra's Project" played on TV in my country the other day I watched it since I had heard and read several praising things about it. Several of the reviews I encountered used the terms "sick" and "disturbing", and those type of films always grab my attention as a fan of horror and obscure cult cinema. Now, I wouldn't really describe the events of "Alexandra's Project" as sick or disturbing. It's merely a bleak and very unpleasant viewing experience. I'm not too familiar with the work of the Dutch born writer/director Rolf De Heer (apparently he emigrated to Australia at young age), but he doesn't exactly come across as the most cheerful and sociable person based on this film. In fact, the film tremendously reminded me of the earlier work of Michael Haneke; more particularly "Benny's Video" and "Funny Games". The stories of all these films are extremely basic and substantially void, but the slow and brooding atmosphere literally makes you feel uncomfortable. Most of the running time, there's practically nothing going on, but you just know drama and emotional agony will ensue at a certain point. Steve is having a fabulous birthday so far. He made another promotion at work and he can't wait to return home, because he suspect that his wife and loving children prepared a surprise party for him. His wife Alexandra occasionally suffers from depressions and insomnia, but generally speaking his marriage is successful and stable. Or so he thinks… The only surprises that await him are an empty dark house and a videotape message from his wife Alexandra. What begins as an exciting private striptease quickly escalates into a discomforting monologue full of hatred, condemnation, humiliation and domestic tragedy. I can't really say I found "Alexandra's Project" to be a good film. The narrative is compelling and the film definitely benefices from the marvelous performances of Gary Sweet and Helen Buday, but the material is too implausible and far-fetched. To label "Alexandra's Project" as a feminist statement or even a thought-provoking humane drama would be far too much honor.

• Some of the best acting I've seen in years

  real_hiflyer2008-01-22

  First I have to say that the acting was nothing short of superb. But Steve takes it another notch higher when you realize he spends almost the whole movie reacting. His facial expressions while mostly spending the whole movie as a captive audience of one, portray as much, if not more, than had he been given the non stop dialog his wife was privy too. He is amazing and whether liking the movie or hating it this cannot be taken away. As for Alexandra's revenge, I think it would have taken a lot more than a Prozac to cure. She unleashes years of repressed anger and lashes out with enough venom to poison Steve, the kids, and herself many times over. Of course neither party was faultless, but while Steve's faults reflect a sadly typical man's point of view; they're not vindictive. Nipped in the bud early on and some counseling and/or trying to educate Steve in what he's doing wrong is reasonable. But here she stores up all that anger, she prostitutes herself and blames the shame for that completely on her husband as well. When a marriage self destructs who hasn't witnessed the worst in people brought to the forefront. But Alexandra is sick, a mental equivalent as dangerous as her faked cancer. The children are pawns in her revenge. As for the last scene when he pathetically attempts masturbation to a movie scene that cuts him to the core? It speaks to his total pathetic devastation. Here is a man in the depths of depression, alternately engaging and failing in an act which will most likely drive his esteem lower, and at other times watching the children - family - he's been robbed of. Repeated replay of his children wishing him happy birthday pile-driving him further into utter repair. His faults were those of omission. Hers were evil through and through. How much hate would you have to harbour to do that to a person? (Remember when he was trying to call her about the security bills for the re-keyed deadbolts etc. Salt in the wound when she apparently was providing payment to her neighbor for services rendered.) And lastly, if at some point his neighbor had been sliced diced and served up in some sushi bar, I wouldn't have minded a bit!