Irina Palm.

"The story of a middle-aged widow entering the sex trade to help finance her grandson's medical care sounds, depending on the emphasis, like either one of those lightly bawdy, twinkly English comedies or softcore porn," writes Jesse Hassenger in the L Magazine. "It's admirable that Irina Palm falls into neither category, but unfortunate that it stops at 'none of the above,' with no answer of its own."

AO Scott, writing in the New York Times, finds it "does rise slightly above the silly clichés embedded in its story."

Jim Ridley in the Voice: "The whole ridiculous thing could serve as one of Lars von Trier's lurid melodramas of female abasement, if director Sam Garbarski's tone didn't fluctuate between kitchen-sink miserabilism and the smirky archness of a Very Special Are You Being Served? - and if it weren't such a pack of cozily sanitized lies."

Martin Tsai opens his review in the New York Sun with a a quick reminder of just who the star here is: "In her 1960s heyday, the British pop tart Marianne Faithfull recorded a few hits, had a stormy affair with Mick Jagger, spun the revolving door of detoxification a few times, and graced her share of tabloid headlines. Her iconic presence leaped onto the big screen as well, notably with appearances in cult films by Jean-Luc Godard and Kenneth Anger. Ms Faithfull is also, according to many, the first person to ever utter the four-letter 'F' word in a major motion picture - in her movie debut, no less, alongside Orson Welles and Oliver Reed in I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1968)."

"Comparisons to Maria Full of Grace are inevitable - a powerless woman, forced to do the unthinkable, discovers a certain power she never had before - and they're not undeserved," writes James Rocchi for Cinematical. "Faithfull's performance is the centerpiece of the film, and it is a truly impressive piece of work.... Irina Palm is about the ugly business of money, of living, of keeping promises, of not giving up - and thanks to careful direction, superb writing and finely-tuned performances, it transcends its own plot to succeed as a truly impressive drama."

"[T]he movie feels too thematically familiar, despite the unusual setting," writes Robert Levin at cinemattraction. "Characters confront their repressed emotions, step out of their self-imposed shells and find themselves better off for doing so."

Sara Cardace talks with Faithfull for New York.

Posted by dwhudson at March 24, 2008 12:48 PM