*** SPOILERS ****
A movie starring Cillian Murphy as a man living two lives -- one as a man and the other as a woman. co-starring Ellen Page, Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman, Keith Caradine and Josh Lucas.
The story: John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy) is a bank clerk in the small town of Peacock, Nebraska. He is a nice quiet man who has a secret personality, Emma, that no one in town knows about. Then a train crashes into his back yard. His neighbors discover Emma and assume she is his wife. Now, the two sides of John's persona -- John and Emma -- struggle for dominance as Emma begins exerting herself outside the home and John tries to keep his secret from the rest of the town. All this begins to revolve around a single mother, Maggie (Ellen Page) and a speech at the train in his backyard and...um, other stuff.
Um...what? What a weird ef-ing story. I put the spiller warning because I'm not even sure if we're supposed to know that John/Emma as two different people or the same person. I mean, you can tell right away -- it's not like Cillian Murphy looks like a woman at all -- but the rest of the town doesn't seem to bat an eye at the fact that there is this person in a dress and a wig that looks exactly like Cillian Murphy in a wig saying that "she" is his wife or whatever. Except there are times that some people seem to act like they know (Sarandon's character especially with the way she looks at him/her and his boss at the bank), but it never really is made clear. Still, it seems to eff-ing obvious!!! In a weird way it made the whole thing work as a comedy, and it was kind of fun watching the two sides of John battle for control. There is a speech someone wants to give at the train and one side is for it and the other against it, so everything goes back and forth. Similarly, there is a single mother that they both try to help in different ways.
But was it supposed to be a comedy? I don't know. It didn't really feel like it completely. It deffinitely has a darker, indy feel. Overall I kind of liked it, but I'm not sure I was liking it the way it was supposed to be liked. D'oh!
*** SLIGHT RECOMMEND (if you want a weird indy comedy) ****
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