HIDEOUS KINKY A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
Gillies MacKinnon's handsomely shot HIDEOUS KINKY contains enough lush visuals to serve as a Moroccan travelogue, albeit one with a time warp. Set in the middle of the hippie age, it brings us back to the free spirited times of the flower children. Kate Winslet, the chief hippie in residence, plays a 25-year-old mother of two young girls, ages 6 and 8.
Although the images are sometimes quite compelling, the threadbare story never is. Billy MacKinnon's thin script is based on a novel by Esther Freud. She grew up in the same time and place (Marrakech) as the girls in the story. Her life may have been exciting, but almost nothing happens in this movie.
Without much information, the viewers are left to piece together for themselves what the director is trying to say. The girls complain about the lack of money, and Julia (Winslet) spends a lot of time going to the post office, looking for the missing check from her husband back in England. This might lead us to believe that we are to feel compassion for a single parent coping with poverty, but the effects of being destitute are never made obvious. Julia doesn't appear to be lacking much since her needs and desires are so modest.
Perhaps the movie is about the effects of bad parenting since Julia does a better job of loving her children than caring for them. She makes some dubious choices in raising them -- letting her 8-year-old go to live with questionable strangers being at the top of the list.
The characters are all written so superficially that one can never be sure what the filmmakers' intentions are. Winslet tries hard to put some life into her underwritten role, but she seems miscast. Bella Riza and Carrie Mullan do respectable jobs as her two girls, who are sometimes more mature than their mother.
The film's title is completely misleading. There are no hideous, kinky sex scenes in the movie. The title comes from the name of a game that the girls play briefly. A different title would have helped in marketing the film correctly, but perhaps the current one will prove more lucrative.
After a reasonable amount of time has elapsed, the picture comes to a completely predictable conclusion. As we leave the theater, we remember the sights and sounds of Marrakech. Nothing more of the story lingers. None of the characters were interesting enough to care about when the movie was on. Now that it's off, they are quickly forgotten. Still, if you've been considering Morocco for your next vacation, this might be just the movie for you.
HIDEOUS KINKY runs 1:38. It is rated R for a little nudity, profanity, and sexuality and would be fine for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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