Pretentious was a word that sprang to mind watching this film, as like it’s main protagonist it wanders around with it’s head in the air thinking that it is more clever than it actually is.
When recently divorced Joyce moves into a small apartment in New York, she hopes to start anew with her own space and a new job at a top magazine. Not long after Joyce settles in, she begins having problems with her upstairs neighbour Charlotte (Ally Sheedy). Charlotte soon begins making Joyce’s life a living hell until things spiral out of control for a surprising conclusion.
I wasn’t exactly blown away by this, despite all the critical praise it has had but the subject matter was highly relevant with a loss of community and isolation ever present in society.
Based on a novel, the film actually still feels like a book…..you know? Like when you see a film that is based on a play and it still feels like a play?
Supermodel Trish Goff is good at playing a slightly neurotic uptight brat who descends into a downward spiral of alcoholism and casual sex to try and make things better, which she doesn’t do as she continues to make poor choice after poor choice.
Ally Sheedy is alright but acts like a complete psycho the moment she appears, which removes all possibility of mystery. The supporting cast range from likeable to completely repulsive and I nearly switched it off when I saw that actor from that bloody awful ‘Island of the Damned’ film was in this.
Vary art house and very confused, Noise has a completely whacky opening title sequence that is well done but made it look like an episode of ‘Caroline in the City’ was about to start, and then changes from thriller to drama to poor taste on a regular basis.
The film just managed to keep my interest for the duration, but I wouldn’t say I was enthralled.
OVERALL SUMMARY
A nice idea with some disturbing revelations to discover about the characters keeps you interested, but I wouldn’t be in a huge hurry to see it again and I certainly wouldn’t pick it as part of family night, as the C word is used more times in one scene than in Jenna Jameson’s entire autobiography.
