Black Swan

Rating: 6
Genre: Drama
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder

Portman plays an unhappy ballerina whose flawless technique is compromised by her lack of emotional input. She is cast in the lead role of a new rendition of Swan Lake and the movie has the beginning of a good story. Then things turn weird. So much so that I still can’t tell you which scenes were even real and which were her fantasies.

Near the end there are incidents of bloodshed and one scene of intense lesbian love making, which a cynic might say was inserted to expand the box office. The movie has received positive critical reviews, and Academy Award buzz probably will sustain it.