Steve Reviews Black Swan

The trailer for this film made it look like a ballet version of All About Eve (one of my favorite Best Picture winners) where the seasoned veteran is idolized, threatened by, and finally overcome by a young ingénue. That alone was reason enough to watch, but add the incredibly sexy Mila Kunis in the mix, and I’m sold.

Natalie Portman gives an award-worthy performance as Nina, the confident-yet-paranoid lead in the Company’s version of Swan Lake. Nina is a complex individual, whose internal demons give her a depth rarely seen in cinema today. This can be attributed to a wonderful script, actually written by 3 people, which is usually a red flag for disaster. Portman is scary-good, and has given the performance of her lifetime. I believe it is her year.

Supporting roles by the aforementioned Kunis and Barbara Hershey add another layer to the story and actually compliment Portman in a way that makes her shine more. Hershey plays an overbearing mother whose presence becomes more and more cringe-worthy with every new scene. It’s a role that could have been played by anyone, really, but Hershey did a fantastic job. Kunis’ character was more unnecessary than the trailer led on. I refuse to give spoilers, but I will say that she did a great job with the role.

As a whole, Black Swan is one of the better films of 2010. Portman’s romantic dance between sanity and insanity is perfectly matched with the Swan Lake backdrop. Hats off to Darren Aronofsky, who has exceeded my expectations for the second time in as many years. As much as I was anticipating the “All About Eve” parallels, I think I’m even happier with this original story that will make one of the 10 Best Picture slots. In fact, I think this would have made the cut if there were still only 5 slots.

-Steve
2.3.2011