Hysteria

Column: The Word on Films | Date Published: Tuesday, 17 July 12 | Author: Melissa Wellham | 10 months ago

For a film that is about the invention of the vibrator, Hysteria is strangely wholesome.

Based on ‘true events’ – with undoubtedly numerous liberties taken, pun intended, to make the whole affair more fun – the film follows Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy), a progressive doctor who has been kicked out of every hospital that he has worked in because he believes in the existence of germs. Finally, he gains employment with a specialist doctor who treats women with ‘hysteria’ – the only cure for which is sexual gratification. But Granville’s hand begins to tire and rather than following the example of the French, he invents an electronic device that does the job five times as well. That’s right. A man called Mortimer Granville invents the vibrator.

Hysteria is actually very amusing – at least, the women in the screening I attended were laughing out loud, even if their husbands seemed to find it less hilarious – and although it follows a fairly clunky rom-com formula, there is still room for genuine wit. The period sets and costumes are delightful, which render even the ongoing jokes about ‘whether this newfangled device the telephone will catch on’ tolerable.

It’s puerile and all-too-obvious at times – both in terms of thinly-veiled vagina jokes and formulaic plot – but the ribbing of Victorian views about sexuality and gender is welcome. It’s not very titillating – but it is good, clean fun.

	The Amazing Spider-Man: I will admit that even after seeing The Amazing Spider-Man, I’m not entirely convinced that another Spider-Man trilogy needed to be confirmed as little as 10 years after Tobey Maguire first graced our screens in the iconic red-and-blue bodysuit. But despite the occasional feeling of déjà vu I experienced while watching the film – and in some instances the feeling of ‘Oh, they have so obviously tried to do exactly the opposite in this scene, of what they did last time’, which was equally galling - I can’t say that I wish they hadn’t made this new adaptation. After all, any cinematic endeavor that brings together Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone so that they feature on the very same piece of celluloid is fine by me. Directed by the appropriately-named Marc Webb, The Amazing Spider-Man reinvents our erstwhile geek-turned-superhero as an emo-geek-chic-turned-superhero, with Andrew Garfield taking over the spider strings. They delve deeper into Peter Parker’s troubled past, which makes his character more believable than in the previous incarnation; and Garfield does brooding teenager well, pulling off excessive sarcasm and bad posture while still retaining his boyish good looks. Emma Stone is captivating as always, despite lacking red hair in her role as the blonde Gwen Stacy, and Rhys Ifans is a sympathetic villain. This remake is entirely unnecessary, but it’s still good. Although calling it ‘amazing’ would be pushing it.
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	Ted: Ted delivers exactly what it promises in the trailer – crude jokes and obvious laughs. Director/writer/actor Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy) does his usual thing here, except this time Peter Griffin plays a teddy bear. The formula here is a familiar one – young boy (Mark Wahlberg) has a teddy bear that comes to life; boy grows up (or does he?!) and finds an amazing woman (Mila Kunis); he somehow falls out with both his too-good-to-be-true girlfriend and bad influence best friend/bear; and finally has to repair his life, now in shambles. There are some blinding metaphors here (about sorting your shit out etc.) but Wahlberg is convincing as an aimless drifter (although as if a bong-smoking salesman would have those abs!) and it’s all in good fun. However, attempts at sentimentality grate rather than engage, and there are a couple of jokes that don’t quite hit the mark. It’s likely that this film will annoy as many people as it delights. Things get a bit too farcical around the middle portion (and vaguely racist – apparently some things are a lot easier to get away with in animation), but it’s about a talking teddy bear that is somehow able to have sex – you’d be a fool to walk into this expecting anything to make too much sense. There are some unexpected cameos and solid laughs, but steer clear if you don’t enjoy the MacFarlene oeuvre.
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