I drove 20 miles each way to view my second movie of the year at the theatre, the highly praised Shame, (NC-17), starring current Hollywood darlings Michael Fassbender (Brandon) and Carey Mulligan (Sissy). Brandon lives alone in his beautiful high rise apartment overlooking some equally beautiful body of water in New York City. Living alone suits Brandon just fine because he is a sex addict. He can call a prostitute, watch webcam porn and masturbate in the shower without interruption.
All of this changes when Sissy, his sister, shows up unexpectedly and helps herself to a shower in which Brandon of course walks in on. Even though they never see each other, Brandon has made her a set of keys and she just let herself into the apartment. She needs a place to stay and Brandon reluctantly agrees.
Brandon and Sissy guard some sort of secret from the past. No, I don't know the secret and it is neither explored or revealed in the film. According to Sissy "we are not bad people, we just come from a bad place." I would like to say this movie is the deep penetration into the soul of one dealing with addiction, but its not. It's a movie that time and time again illustrates his condition, but we never know how or why Brandon is this way. Ironically, the only time that he fails to perform in the film is when he meets a nice girl from the office. I guess she was just too nice to drag into his world.
Now, I mentioned his performances and I don't want to soft sell that point because director Steve McQueen drove it home. There are many, and I wasn't taking notes so I may miss a few: Brandon with a prostitute, Brandon with a prostitute, Brandon masturbates in shower, Brandon masturbates at the office, Brandon walks in on a naked Sissy, Sissy walks in on a masturbating Brandon, Brandon screws a girl in the alley, he has two prostitutes at their place, his porn is discovered on his office computer and he goes to a gay club which is replete with back rooms for amorous activity.
Brandon slips off the edge and makes a pass at a young lady in a bar, which earns him a beating out back. Down on his luck, he goes on one last sexual rampage. After a full night of sex, lightbulb, Brandon must rush home to Sissy who clearly needs him. Unfortunately, he arrives to find Sissy bleeding out on the bathroom floor. Sissy was a cutter, but this time she went a little too deep. Luckily, Sissy is saved and Brandon seems happy. But will he slip back into his old ways?
Recommending this film would be like suggesting your favorite porn film to your best friends wife - not appropriate (in most circles). McQueen delivers on one of my biggest pet peeves and that is don't tell me that the movie is about sex and leave out the sex. There's plenty of sex here, but unfortunately that's all there is. If you want to see Carey Mulligan or Michael Fassbender in a porno, then this movie is for you. If you are looking of something else (or anything else), I would sneak a peek at it when it comes out on cable in the privacy of your own home. Rating one out of five airplanes.
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