rightwingisevil I have been watching Vera Farmiga these years and consider her one of the best actresses soaring in a higher altitude. She seems to be able to grab any role's soul she played and so convincingly delivered. Her facial expressions are always more believable than most of the female actors. There's a rare haunted subtlety that only a few female actors got and that subtlety is what I appreciated most. But somehow such essence might also limit herself if she tried to play comedy roles. Playing characters under extremely stressful or tough situations are where her strength founded. That might also be the answer to why she's so outstanding when playing roles in drama, suspenseful thriller, tragedy; those soul searching, self-destruction, struggling characters that would shock you to the bone and whip your soul.This movie is just like that. Vera Farmiga is a dark force on the silver screen you have to recognize seriously, a rare find in the already out-of-control pests infested Hollywood.

mcstrangelove-1 I watched a screener of this film on a lark and almost hit the Eject button when I saw the low- tech titles and dv quality. Just goes to show you that quality film-making and acting have nothing to do with budget. Virtually every film has at least one or two characters that seem like they are "acting" to the point that it takes you out of the film. I was waiting for said character to appear in this one and it never happened. Nor did any expected clichés. Yet, I couldn't stop watching. The director/writers and actors did an amazing job. I felt like I was watching real people (it's hard to believe there was a screenplay!). I can't stand the state of movies today, but at least this little indie brought me faith that good film-making can still be found if you just happen onto it.

teddyryan I had the opportunity to see DOWN TO THE BONE off Netflix. I was really looking forward to it. I think Vera Farmiga is a very talented performer and heard the raves. Unfortunately, the decision to shoot this story on a PD-150 really killed it for me. I saw the short SNAKE FEED and felt 16 was a much better medium. Or maybe I wished Debra Granik had taken a different visual DV approach. I'm not quite sure. But I didn't find the cinematography all that breathtaking. Some reviewers call it gritty - I call it bland. Still, even with that aside, I felt the story moves a little slow and is also mettled with structural issues. The snake motif was cliché in my books. Nonetheless, Vera is great and definitely makes this one worth watching.

Flicker8 I completely disagree with some of the comments below. This is a really well done independent film. I went into it not knowing anything about it and was blown away. It's a very nuanced and natural feeling film about what a woman with a family goes through with what seems to start out as a casual drug addiction. To me, it came off as a realistic and personal portrayal of a woman's struggle. And not the least bit glamorized in my view. As far as the cinematography goes, I thought it was perfect for the film. It definitely added to its impact. The verite style gives the viewer a feeling of following around a real woman with a serious problem and a family to look after. I also thought the setting of the film was interesting and unlike what we see in so many films. This includes the socio-economic level of the family, definitely not the rich kids we always see dabbling in drugs or, on the other end, urban gangsters dealing drugs (yes, I'm generalizing, but you know what I mean). These people fall somewhere in the middle. And last but not least, Farmiga's performance was brilliant. I've been keeping an eye out for her ever since seeing this film. Judging by the list of upcoming films on her IMDb profile, others took notice, too. I'm also very curious to see what Granik does next-- I hope she makes another film soon!