Downloading Nancy (2008)

Sorry, this movie sucks

People are voting emotionally.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Low rating is due to film shortcomings and not content of the movie or graphic scenes – I am perfectly fine with the subject matter.Maria Bello's portrayal of Nancy is lacking on many levels. I feel no empathy towards her and further into the movie I begin to look forward to her death to end her whiny self-absorbed and childish behavior. Another walking skeleton actress who needs to eat something because the sex scenes were not sexy or engaging. How we are supposed to believe that not only one man, but two are in love with this train wreck is beyond me and derails the entire movie.I understand that her childhood abuse contributed to her emotional problems, but leave the marriage like every other dysfunctional person; there were no kids to keep her there (another understandably depressing issue but of course she can't adopt, right?). Nope. She just stays and tortures her husband and flings potatoes at him and wonders why he won't screw her – that's hot…not. If she really wanted to be tortured and killed, then go live on the street and get raped and beaten, probably killed. Nope. Comfy house with husband worrying about her while she emails other men and cuts herself.I've seen the criticism and discussion of the husband Albert as being unresponsive and contributory. I feel that this portrayal or opinion is unfair. He seems to be worn from 15 years of marriage to this roller-coaster twit; every emotion has already been extracted many times over so what is the use. Sewell has it down perfectly for me. If the husband was making her unhappy, then she had every opportunity to leave over 15 years. It just looks like she enjoyed being supported so she did not work and could concentrate on her neuroses.Patric as the boyfriend/killer was okay. Maybe it was the script, but I just did not get enough conviction that his character derived pleasure and satisfaction.I had a classmate that committed suicide in 6th grade. By this real life standard, Nancy is an epic failure at her deepest desire to end her pain this far along. The story then becomes one of fetish and narcissism instead of desperation. There is no discussion to be had regarding lack of understanding, compassion or experience in the aforementioned subjects; I have plenty and draw from real life my assessment that the characters and storyline are not cohesive and true to life. This story is inspired by a real life story – I did research it after I viewed the movie. It also solidified my opinion more.

I'm gonna start out by saying that this may be the most depressing and distressing movie I've ever seen and I've seen a few. It hit me from behind, I had no idea what I was about to watch. Sure, there are movies about for example the holocaust(s) and some powerful horror movies, but this movie managed to beat them to it. I was a bit surprised about the low score, as this really is such a well crafted movie that it deserves better. Altho I understand some may be put off by it's absolute bleakness. It's slow, and it's very hard to watch. On the negative side, there is a tiny amount of exploitment, as the story is said to be inspired by true events and the direction does underline a bit. This is where I drop the score one point. It's a difficult scenario with (inspired by) true stories, as you can't really know what the directors motive was to put this on screen. Is it his affection for subjects portrayed here or the fact that he wants to make people think about unfortunate people you don't often see on the media.Maria Bello portrays an utterly depressed woman who has been abused as a child and can no longer connect with her husband (Rufus Sewell). She then contacts a man (Jason Patrick) online who agrees to kill her. The story jumps right into it and is not 100 % linear, which is a bit distracting here and there, but also works for the benefit of the dark story.There are as many sides to the story as there are characters involved. It could be seen as a directorial success that even tho the story is partly seen thru his husband, it still manages to keep him as a bit of a mystery. The focus is always on Nancy. There are a lot of scenes where Nancys husband is shown after Nancy leaves to meet her killer, but we are never really let inside the husbands thoughts. On the other hand, Nancy's character may be underlined too much. Is this a directorial decision to focus on Nancy's need for attention or just to have as many scenes as possible to show Nancys downfall, I don't know. I'm guessing it's all intentional as the movie is quite well crafted and every detail seems to be there for a reason.There is one scene in particular which had a tremendous impact on me. The one where she starts a food war during a bleak dinner. This is probably the only moment in the movie where you can see a spark in her eye. Only to be shot down immediately by her husbands reaction.Where this movie may fail a bit is that it is easy to see the husband as a baddie. Or at least this is how I take it from the reviews written here. Had the story been portrayed from another perspective, we could've seen a tormented man who has focused on his hobby to stay sane in a non working, infertile marriage. There are people who are unable to show their feelings. Nancy had a tragic past, but this could also be a case of bad matchmaking to begin with.A word of praise must go to Jason Patrick, who makes an unbelievably chilling role. It's completely new, never seen a character like his played on screen. There are scenes where his eyes show zero emotion, yet at times you can feel his empathy and care. I read he replaced Ray Liotta and this is a small victory. Liotta has played so many psycho roles that he would've watered down the whole movie. Jason Patrick hasn't been in a lot of movies and thinking about it now, he's a perfect choice for the role.I read somewhere that the director credits his homeland Sweden. He points out that only Finnish people may be more depressed than they. Maybe it is the fact that I'm Finnish that I really felt this movie and didn't see it pointless and slow waste of time as some have said it to be.

The masochist housewife Nancy (Maria Bello) is a physically and psychologically destroyed woman. She had been so violently abused by her uncle since she was seven years old that she can not have babies anymore. She is ignored by her selfish husband Albert (Rufus Sewell), who does not have sex with her or give any attention to her problems, dedicating his leisure time to play a virtual golf game in a special room in their fancy house. The psychoanalyst Carol (Amy Brenneman) unsuccessfully tries to help Nancy to resolve her emotional issues with therapy. When Nancy contacts the sick sadomasochist Louis (Jason Patrick) in internet, she schedules a meeting with him in Baltimore to release her from her painful life. They meet each other and have kinky sex, but along the days together, Louis falls in love for Nancy and tries to persuade her to stay alive. "Downloading Nancy" is a disturbing, powerful and heartbreaking movie with a story apparently based on a true event. Yesterday when I saw this film, I felt very uncomfortable with the dramatic story of Nancy, a woman destroyed by sexual abuses in the childhood and adolescence, and rejection and lack of love in her marriage. The gorgeous Maria Bello performing a character without any glamor gives a performance that should deserve a nomination to the Oscar, if this ridiculous institution were slightly honest and serious. Rufus Sewell is amazing in the role of a selfish man totally indifferent to the emotional problems of his needy wife. Jason Patrick is also excellent and there is one specific scene absolutely gruesome when he has sex with Nancy and a piece of glass. The non-linear screenplay makes the difference in this film, disclosing the drama of the lead character through flashbacks and intelligent dialogs. This mature movie is only recommended for very specific audiences and the DVD should have a warning in this regard. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Distúrbios do Prazer" ("Disturbs of the Pleasure")

This movie is so dark it is disturbing but it is also compelling. All the actors are marvelous and do such a good job they may be under-appreciated. Nancy's character is so flawed that it is easy to blame her husband who seems to be equally depressed. Maybe 15 years with her did this. Wish we could have seen him before their marriage. She was destroyed many years earlier by the only person she feels loves her...her uncle...and her therapist is right about this but Nancy won't listen. Good for these gutsy actors. This is not a picture for the faint of heart nor for those who want to ignore the many problems of the world today.