jameswilliams784 I found this movie very strange. It certainly has appeal with the gorgeous Mimi Rogers showing every inch of body off, but the story get very confused. Rogers has a regular weekly appointment for a Massage in her home. One day she is surprised to learn that her regular Masseuse, Dennis has sent a replacement. The replacement, Brian Brown, proceeds to give Miss Rogers her massage and throughout the movie the two engage in some verbal sparing, finding that there is a connection but that there is also a strange friction between them. Mimi Rogers is gorgeous so if you are a fan of hers, you are certainly going to like this movie. If you are into the kind of movie that has some deep dialog, you will also probably like this movie. If your looking for a great story, this movie will disappoint you. I think this movie could have been perhaps a great movie if they concentrated on the relationship between these two opposites following the oft used opposites attract theme. I do recommend this movie simply because Mimi Rogers is too gorgeous to ignore.

dnjjr N.B.: Spoilers within. Nicholas Roeg's "Full Body Massage" belongs in the Talk Flick category, but with a twist. (I'll get to that.) Nina (Mimi Rogers) is visited by a substitute masseur, Fitch (Bryan Brown), and during their session they gab on endlessly. The movie centers on one long conversation – about art, spirituality, relationships, destiny, ancient healing methods, and other assorted riddles of life – which might as well take place between two people on a road trip, or sipping their lattes. But.....The two main characters are a study in opposites. Nina, a product of very humble origins, has worked her way up to become a highly successful art gallery owner. Fitch, on the other hand, was born into affluence but has spent his whole adult life fleeing from it. Nina tends to gravitate toward the more personal during the massage. Early on she claims not to over-intellectualize, but rely on intuition. Fitch remains aloof in comparison. Yes, he is full of innumerable "truths," but keeps the truth about his own self effectively hidden. We rarely get a straightforward answer out of him. He spouts on and on about Hopi tribal medicine, which is fine, but in this film the character of Fitch is sorely lacking a sense of humor. I kept wanting him to lighten up already.The twist I speak of constitutes the only brand of tension, curious as it is, in the film: reams of rational discourse versus the massage's very sensuous physical contact...a lot of it. (Part of Nina's and Fitch's early conversation refers to the sensuous. Nina: "Massage is sexual...very sexual." Fitch: "Can be, doesn't have to be, shouldn't always be...") This tension is embodied by the mostly brainy discussion – and its cool delivery – taking place while the camera lovingly and sumptuously dotes on every inch of Nina's oily flesh with Fitch's expert hands manipulating it. An example (one of many like it): at one point the two characters are literally cheek to cheek in physical proximity, with Fitch rubbing away, while they talk about a "bankruptcy of the spirit." Huh? Numerous flashbacks in both leads' minds fill in sporadic details about their pasts, especially their most recent relationships. Fitch's loving memories of Alice, who turned him on to the Hopi teachings he is so fond of, show us that at least he had a warm and sexy side to him at one time. (Here he is actually caught smiling.) But Alice's tragic death in an accident appears to have shut the door to his emotions permanently.If there is such a thing as cerebral sensuality, this film attempts to capture it. For me it was difficult to mesh the two elements. You have an afternoon full of highbrow chit chat competing with a nonstop visual diet of Mimi Rogers' nude, lushly stroked body. Most of us would be waiting for some real sexuality to bubble to the surface, but don't hold your breath.Toward the end of the film, Nina makes an attempt to show that the pair is closer in spirit than they may realize (something having to do with each of their pasts making up much of who they are now). Whatever... When we first met her, Nina was saddled with a vague ennui, and her encounter with Fitch seems to have lifted it a bit. It's hard to tell...the whole film is drenched in laid-back understatement. For his part, Fitch – as he drives off into the sunset – makes a gesture indicating he has moved on from Alice. Is there hope for these two independent spirits? The film leaves that question open. Personally I didn't find the dialog itself quite as odd as the "fleshed out" characters who spoke it and the angular way they interacted.

smatysia The film is really just Bryan Brown giving Mimi Rogers a massage while they talk of various things, mostly philosophical, and interspersed with flashbacks of their respective lives. You could say that it's slow, and I suppose that it is, but I found this movie to be refreshingly different. No car chases, no guns, no drugs, no smart-assed hero. Mimi Rogers spends a fair amount of time naked and this is, of course, very, very, very, very aesthetically pleasing. I have to wonder about Imdb's rating system when the "weighted average" is 5.6 and the real average is 7.6. At least they do publish the mean and median scores.

Rave-Reviewer A gallery owner is surprised when her home masseur sends a replacement, from whom she receives intellectual and spiritual, rather than sensual, treatment. Essentially a long conversation about art, life and relationships, broken up with the director's customarily intriguing montage, and in which the star bravely exposes herself physically as well as emotionally. Compelling viewing.