On its own terms, perfectly fair ones, too, Tanya Wexler's HYSTERIA is pure delight

Those terms mentioned above? Well, HYSTERIA -- a Victorian era rom-com set in 1880 London -- is all about discovering the cure for those "hysterical" symptoms with which doctors diagnosed the women of the day. The movie is naughty, but not dirty; feminist (and funny rather than strident); and so progressive it'll have Republicans and fundamentalists churning their knickers into a double twist, double quick. These people had best stay home and pray -- to Ms Rand or their version of Jesus -- because the movie will knock their blocks out from under them, even as it has the rest of the audience leaving the theater on a sweet cloud of laughter and good will (toward men and, particularly, women). The film's distributor Sony Pictures Classics missed perhaps the greatest marketing opportunity of the year by not opening the movie last week -- as the perfect alternative entertainment for Mother's Day.

The first thing you may notice about Tanya Wexler's film (the director is shown at right) -- besides its very funny opening depicting Victorian upper class women of all types describing their "symptoms" -- is how interesting, how much fun are the various characters on view. There's Hugh Dancy's quixotic doctor, shown below, all forward thinking where medical science is concerned but something of a prude regarding a woman's place and conventional morality. When this very good doctor comes into the family fold and the hysteria-fueled medical practice of Jonathan Pryce, he meets the two women -- Pryce's daughters, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Felicity Jones -- who will concern him from then on: Ms Jones as his possible paramour, Ms Gyllenhaal as his combination goading savior and bête noire.

One of the things that makes Hysteria the delight that it is is Ms Wexler's skillful and easy approach to the material. Nothing here seems labored or pushed. The director may be be no great stylist, but neither is she that dreaded filmmaker who possess oodles of style, little idea of content, and not enough sense to differentiate or mesh. This lady is a direct director: She knows what to give us and how to do it sensibly, economically and entertainingly. She has a light touch, her movie moves fast and is lots of fun. And isn't that, moviegoers, more than half the battle?

I don't know what other reviews will be like, once the movie opens this Friday. But I hope they will be better than the dreck Anthony Lane is feeding us via this week's The New Yorker. "Sorry, Doc. She faked it."? (That's Lane last line.) Of course Lane is speaking metaphorically (I guess) because he clearly was paying no attention to the terrific and very funny actress who handles the "equestrian" climax. She is clearly doing anything but faking it. As for the film not paying attention to the needs of women -- hello, that's what the f-ing movie is all about, from needs sexual to intellectual. But because this is evidently not spelled out in capital letters, Mr. Lane has somehow missed it.

Another sign of Wexler's skill is how well her actors all mesh. Dancy is divine as the forward-thinking male who still has a few miles left to go; ditto Rupert Everett (above, right) as his wealthy friend, inventor and confidante, whose progressive parents foot the bill for much of his life and work. Pryce is fine in a less demanding role than he often has, but it's fun to see him doing comedy again.

Gyllenhaal (at right, above and below) is wonderful -- smart, fast and as appealing as she is strong -- while Jones has the less showy role and fills it with her beauty and, toward the conclusion, a nice sense of growth and change. Hysteria is a charming, progressive fairy tale that mixes love and politics, sex and science. Don't leave before the end credits are over, for Ms Wexler has a final funny and slowly evolving joke to tell us -- which she handles as smartly and frothily as the rest of her film.

Hysteria, from Sony Pictures Classics and just the right length (95 minutes), opens this Friday in New York City at Cinemas 1 2 3, the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the Sunshine Cinema; and in Los Angeles at The Landmark.  It'll be appearing elsewhere around the country soon, though as of today, I could find no link to playdates.

  Note: At the Sunshine Cinema (New York City),

director Tanya Wexler will appear in person on 

Saturday, May 19 for Q&As after 

the 5:05pm and 7:20pm shows.

All photos are from the film itself, with the exception of Ms Wexler's, 

which is by Larry Busacca and comes courtesy of Gettyimages.com

Must-see DVD: Abe Sylvia's DIRTY GIRL proves just as good the 2nd time around

If you missed its (very) limited theatrical release (most people did), don't miss seeing DIRTY GIRL on DVD. My original review is here, so I'll make this reminder short. Abe Sylvia's wonderfully energetic, spacious, full-of-laughs-and-charm "buddy road trip" featuring the "dirty girl" of the title and her fat, gay friend is simply the most fun you're going to find on film for a long while. The two leads are splendid: Juno Temple (below, left) in what would have been a star-making performance if enough of us has seen the film, and Jeremy Dozier (below, right), who is so very good (funny, original and real), once he sheds some poundage, he might be quite the ladies' (or men's) man. (Even if he remains the plum little puss he is here, this guy's a keeper.)

Writer/director Sylvia does wonders with his kids -- who need some parental love and approval (and in one case, simply a father), and who bond, fight, help, hurt, and through it all, grow. And his cast of circling adults-- including Mary Steenburgen (below, right), Dwight Yoakam, Milla Jovovich (below, left) and William H. Macy -- are top of the line. The ending, shamelessly feel-good (and I wouldn't have it any other way), should have you walking on air. The movie's music, too, is aces -- particularly if you're a Melissa Manchester fan.

Right now, the only place I can find Dirty Girl is via Netflix. Blockbuster didn't bother to stock it, and even at my little local video store, they hadn't heard of it. Shameful. This movie is so worth seeking out. So seek -- until ye find.

Oh, Mama! Abe Sylvia's DIRTY GIRL delivers shameless, fabulous fun

OK: honest injun, DIRTY GIRL is not the greatest movie of the year. But it's certainly up there with those that have provided me the most fun. Joining the ranks of the recent "R"-rated comedies -- first, for the boys (Hangover etc.), then for the girls (Bridesmaids, etc.) -- this movie, from first-time/full-length writer/director Abe Sylvia (who makes a more-than-auspicious debut) has broadened the field to now include the first R-rated girls-and-gays comedy. In the process, Sylvia has managed to hit so many of the right buttons in a manner just off-kilter enough that they almost seem new. They're not, but you may well be laughing hard enough (and smiling when the guffaws calm down) that you won't notice. Or, even if you do, you may not mind.

One of the really special things about this movie is how Mr Sylvia, shown at right, manages to shock us and make a laugh, while also seeing to it that we like his characters, every damn one of them, including the homophobic father (played quite well by Dwight Yokam, below right) and the Mormon maybe-to-be step-father, essayed with his usual craftsmanship, by William H. Macy (shown at bottom).

The guys -- bless 'em -- do seem to get it in the stomach (more often the balls) in this movie, while the women tend to come out smelling like, if not a rose, maybe a lilac or carnation, as does our delightful gay hero, played with simply terrific, shruggy savoir-faire by newcomer Jeremy Dozier, below, whose first full-length film this also is.

Mr. Dozier (at left) is a doozy -- so funny and chubby and real and endearing as Clarke (note the "e") that I dare you not to be captivated by his combination of neediness and determination. Joining him in the other leading role is an actress, Juno Temple (below, who plays dirty girl Danielle), whom I've been watching with great interest for a couple of years now. From St. Trinian's to Glorious 39, Cracks to Kaboom, she's been just good and versatile enough to stand out. Here she comes into her own, and it's a star-making performance. Temple's chemistry with Dozier is right and real, as the two bond haltingly at first, then out of necessity and finally out of genuine friendship. These two are so good together that their relationship makes the movie.

Not that there aren't other excellent performances, as well -- among them those of Mary Steenbergen (below, right) as Clarke's mom and Mila Jovovich (below, left, playing, what?! a mother role now, as Danielle's progenitor). Also offering very smart work is Nicholas D'Agosto as a hitch-hiking stripper named Joel.

Part family film, part outsider movie, part road trip, Dirty Girl is held together as much by the filmmaker's savvy ability to negotiate various mood changes, as by its consistently excellent performances. Set in the late 1980s, it also boasts styles, songs and famous names of the period -- like Joan Jett, who lends her moniker to the very funny and useful bag of flour that our two kids must carry around all day as a practice "baby."

Thanks to some very funny and charming animation, this little 5-pound bag (above, middle) changes its expression with each passing mood and event and adds a lot of fun to this already delightful and dirty/sunny film. The climax, by the way, is every bit as shameless and fabulous as you could possibly want.

Dirty Girl, from The Weinstein Company, opens theatrically in limited release this Friday, October 7, in New York City, Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Francisco, San Jose and Tampa.  To see all the theatres, simply click here and then scroll down to TICKETS AND SHOWTIMES, type in your zip code and click on one of the three on-line ticket purveyors.