Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Robert Downey, Jr., Ty Burrell, Jane Alexander
Directed by: Steven Shainberg
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Diane Arbus (Nicole Kidman) spends her time working on the family business and taking care of her children. This all changes when a mysterious man (Robert Downey, Jr.) suffering from extreme hair growth moves in upstairs. The two form an unlikely friendship, and Diane begins focused on taking artistic pictures of unconventional people and things.

Review:
Tim: This is a very, very odd movie. I can't stress enough how absolutely bizarre and crazy this movie is. There are wolfmen (okay, people suffering from hypertrichosis), midgets, armless women, and much more. In fact, this is so much a part of the movie that it almost serves to distract the longer it goes on. This is true with much of the movie. What starts out interesting and exciting grows a bit tiresome as the movie progresses.

Nicole Kidman is mostly good as Diane Arbus. This role didn't require a great effort from her, and she's such a talented and experienced actress that she could have played this role in her sleep. The real star of the show is Robert Downey, Jr. For most of the movie, he is completely covered in hair. What is amazing, is that he is still effective, and quite good. How he achieves this is impressive. He has to rely a great deal on his eyes, which is a very difficult way to convey something to the audience. He's excellent.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus has some truly great moments. I love the originality and the unconventional quality of the movie. However, what at first appears startling and edgy soon grows boring. The movie drags greatly in places, and by the film's conclusion, we've lost most of our interest, and we have very little invested emotionally in the characters. The movie's flaws are fatal, but there are a few good moments that are probably worth you suffering through the many bad ones.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4.5



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