Change Your Image
christinedbeatty
Reviews
The Sisterhood (1988)
Never ask, how bad can it be?
Cirio H. Santiago managed to churn out one B-flick I actually enjoyed, 1981's Firecracker with martial artist who wasn't afraid to go nude, Jillian Kesner. She knew EXACTLY what kind of film she was in and committed to it, not to mention she could act as well as fight.
Were it only The Sisterhood even 1/10th as good. Poor acting, directing and dialogue requires at least some sort of offset such as convincing action, dazzling pyro, generous nudity/sex or some actual drama. Nearly everything felt so contrived or phoned-in that it had no impact.
Fixing Frank (2002)
Far better than the rating
After seeing Fixing Frank as a FISA screener I contacted the director to ask it was slated for DVD distribution and a film this good belonged in my library. It asks with attempting to definitively answer powerful and thorny questions about identity and desire; it smacks of integrity to present these questions and leave it to the viewer.
I would loved to have seen the play, but I believe I got an excellent feel for it with how it was presented as a triad, with the two therapists fighting over Frank's very identity. The depiction of one of the men in Frank's mind while he spoke with the other dramatized the psychological tug of war with artful cinematography choices. It had moments of humor, pathos and drama that engaged from beginning to end.
Fixing Frank brought an important and relevant play to people who might never get a chance to see it. It got me asking questions I thought for certain were already answered, and it never left me with a moment of boredom or irritation with the filmmaker.