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Boxing Helena

Play trailer Poster for Boxing Helena R 1993 1h 47m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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14% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 35% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A rich surgeon (Julian Sands) operates on the object of his obsession, his grotesquely disfigured aloof neighbor (Sherilyn Fenn).
Boxing Helena

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Critics Consensus

A disturbing concept marred by graceless execution, Boxing Helena is a psychosexual drama that proves more tedious than provocative.

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Critics Reviews

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Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel Both the beauty and her beastly pursuer remain too blankly generic for the implications of the movie's main metaphor to come through vividly. May 30, 2019 Full Review Dolores Barclay Associated Press 'Boxing Helena'' is a bad film - with terrible acting, cliched dialogue, a silly script, pedestrian camera work and inferior direction. Jun 12, 2018 Full Review Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: C- Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Quentin Crisp Christopher Street I am probably prevented by some unwritten law from divulging the end of Boxing Helena. I can only say that, instead of adding an extra twist to this bizarre tale, it deprives it of what little point it had. Apr 6, 2022 Full Review Vanessa Letts The Spectator Instead of the grotesque sexual humiliation of Kim Basinger we were all hoping for, we get schoolgirl surrealism. Jul 25, 2018 Full Review Owen McNally Hartford Courant Take one peak into the shoddy, tasteless Boxing Helena, and you'll realize why Madonna and Kim Basinger bailed out of the title role. Apr 18, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Sandra F I'm going against the grain here but looking past whatever passé efforts you may find.. it's one that you have to see, if for no other reason than 1. To say that you have 2. To say 'nope.. not a relationship I'd want thank you very much!' I'll stick with.. love it! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/01/24 Full Review RyanBurnsPW Films like this, in spite of the pedigree of Jennifer Lynch's name, need to be appreciated with an open-mind towards all levels of class art. It smashes together soft-core indulgences, hokey music, and obvious characters emblematic of sexy asshole Bill Paxton and aristocratic doctor Julian Sands with shrewd commentaries on loving relationships and via its uses of slow motion, dream-or-memory passages, and careful, languid dread that eventually sparks into aspirational passion between a captive and her captor. The ending is a whip, but by that moment, all that needed to be said has made its impression. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/16/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie was unbearable. 🙄 Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member i looooved it. yes, really. as cool as twin peaks Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member This film explores the female attempt to gain autonomy as well as man's desire to claim women as objects. I found it to he amazing. If anything, the low ratings prove the thesis of the film: that if a woman tries to express herself, she will be stifled. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm surprised it has such poor ratings. As long as you go into it spoiler free, it is a bizarre and uncomfortable (in ways i can appreciate-being comfortable isn't always the goal of art) movie that leads you down the psyche of a man who has everything and yet longs only for that which he can't have yet tries so desperately to find a way to possess. from the extraordinarily cold and unfeeling influences of his mother, to his lack of confidence, despite being wildly successful, you almost develop stockholm syndrome for this sadly pathetic and devoid of love story. Two people who both long for more and yet are deeply denied for very different reasons; both aches leading them on a destructive collision between their lives which leave both altered forever. Besides, this is the movie that made me fall in love with sherilyn fenn and it's worth it just to watch her pace the screen like a supernatural goddess who both possesses you and simultaneously is unpossessable, she is something to behold. Julian sands is equally captivating, if not for the same reasons than because you can't imagine him seeming so weak, fragile and truly despicable after Warlock lol. I saw it in my early adult years and it still holds a part of me captive. Watch if you aren't keen on plain unchallenged movies the likes of always make it to the big screen but always pieces something to be desired. It's different, it didn't try to make you comfortable or look to condescend to you. It's its own kind of horrific beauty and I think if you're a deep thinker or like something not status quo, you may just find yourself "haunted by your love for her", too. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Boxing Helena

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A rich surgeon (Julian Sands) operates on the object of his obsession, his grotesquely disfigured aloof neighbor (Sherilyn Fenn).
Director
Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Producer
Carl Mazzocone, Philippe Caland
Screenwriter
Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Production Co
Mainline Pictures Inc.
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.2M
Runtime
1h 47m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Surround