Review: Sister, Sister

A Louisiana mansion houses Judith Ivey and her emotionally troubled sister Jennifer Jason Leigh. They open up their mansion to guests like a Bed & Breakfast, to get by financially. Ivey is protective of Leigh, but when visiting Congressional aide Eric Stoltz starts hanging around the latter, it’s actually handyman Benjamin Mouton who first warns the young man to stay away. The growing relationship between Leigh and Stoltz continues to raise tensions between Stoltz and Mouton (the latter having a crush on Leigh himself), but also between the two sisters, as Stoltz wants Leigh to get out from under her sister’s thumb. Eventually, dark, long-buried secrets from the family’s past are uncovered. Deadly secrets.

 

Co-written and directed by a debuting Bill Condon (who went on to make the respected “Gods and Monsters”), it’s a miracle his career continued after this pathetic 1987 Gothic murder-mystery/melodrama masquerading as a horror film. Co-written by Joel ‘Not Joel Coen’ Cohen (“Pass the Ammo”, “Toy Story”) and Ginny Cerulla, but it’s almost as if Tennessee Williams and Stephen King had collaborated on a story...that turned out to be a complete turd, so neither author wanted their names attached to it. That isn’t true, but it feels like it at times. It’s like a sucky version of “Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte”.

 

The film suffers from a disastrously slow pace and seemingly zombified performances from a dreadfully miscast Eric Stoltz and terminally depressed Jennifer Jason Leigh. Leigh, in particular, looks anaemic, as though she’s going to faint due to either a lack of essential nutrients, or a lack of sleep. She also adopts the awful Blanche Dubois accent Jessica Lange has used for the last 30 years and to even lesser effect than Lange. She’s so agonisingly low-key, mumbly, and seemingly disengaged throughout one has to wonder if she knew she was in a movie. This kind of thing needs fiery, smouldering actors to sell the Southern Gothic steaminess, but Stoltz and Leigh act like rigour mortis is firmly setting in. There’s no charm, charisma, or sex appeal between them. Stoltz has talent, but not anything compatible with this material. He’s one of the top three ‘Career Pissers’ of all-time. He made good films early on, and then just pissed the rest of his career away with crap like this where it’s not only awful, but an ill-fit. Cast Billy Zane, Rob Lowe or Michael Paré in the Stoltz role, and you’re a little more on track (even though Stoltz is actually a better actor than any of those, he is not a stud).

 

If you’re expecting horror, expect to be bored to death, because this is 80% Gothic melodrama and 10% horror, at best, and that 10% is tacked-on with all the seams showing. The whole thing is seriously underdone, with the Stoltz and Leigh relationship seemingly having a middle without an actual beginning, unless I dozed off for 20 minutes or so. Shithouse ending, too, leaving at least one huge loose end untied.

 

The film does have atmosphere, with a particularly nice, foggy opener wonderfully shot by cinematographer Stephen M. Katz (“Watch It”). It’s a little gauzy in the interior scenes, but those exteriors set the right tone and mood. Unfortunately, Katz didn’t direct the film, nor was he presumably involved in casting the film.

 

A good look can’t save what is an otherwise pathetic film. One of the worst films I’ve ever seen, badly acted, poorly cast, and the material is too thin to be stretched to feature length.

 

Rating: F