Skin Crawls
Gregg Araki's latest is more icky than mysterious.
By Luke Y. Thompson
Published: Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Who / What:
Mysterious Skin
Directed By:
Gregg Araki, based on the novel by Scott Heim
Written By:
Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Chase Ellison, and George Webster
Gregg Araki likes to shock. That's no secret to anyone following the director's career, but a cartoonish layer of unreality has usually kept the sexual pairings and graphic violence somewhat at a distance. There's a little of that in Mysterious Skin, but mostly it stays grounded in the real world. Araki seems to have finally taken in a few Todd Solondz movies, then realized that abusing actor James Duval delivers nowhere near the shock value of abusing children. Put it this way: If you're Michael Jackson, this is the movie for you. If not, you're gonna find it creepy.
As trippy music plays over the opening credits, it looks as if leaves are falling down over a white background. Only as the focus finally sharpens do we realize that they are in fact Froot Loops, dropping on the head of eight-year-old Neil (Chase Ellison). We'll get back to him eventually and realize the disturbing implications of the falling cereal, but first comes the story of another eight-year-old, this one named Brian (George Webster), who suffers a couple of blackouts that induce bloody noses and decides that alien abduction must have been responsible.
Then back to Neil, experiencing his first orgasm while watching his mom (Elisabeth Shue, in full-on drunken-slut mode) have sex with a random guy he describes in voice-over as "all Marlboro Man, dumb as a fuckin' rock -- what I would years later call my type." A Little Leaguer, Neil is immediately awestruck by the coach (Bill Sage), a well-built man with blond hair and a porn-star mustache. The feeling is mutual. Coach's house turns out to be stocked with video games, junk food, and everything else a boy could want. Get the boy there, and the coach has what he wants.
Neil reacts by becoming just as cynical and abusive, at one point kidnapping another boy, shooting bottle rockets out of his mouth, then masturbating him to ensure he'll be too embarrassed to tell anyone. By the time he's a teenager, Neil's become a hustler, hanging out in the park until creepy middle-aged men offer him a ride.
Meanwhile, Brian has grown up to be played by Brady Corbet (Thirteen, Thunderbirds), who has a vibe not unlike Goonies-era Sean Astin. After watching a TV special on alien abduction, he contacts one of the subjects, an awkward, limping girl named Avalyn (Mary Lynn Rajskub). She encourages him to interpret his dreams, leading him to memories of Neil, whom he seeks out in order to determine the truth -- which of course involves something worse than aliens. Before the two boys meet, however, Araki dwells mostly on Neil's hustling adventures, which, while not including full-frontal nudity, feature such charming details as the graphic sounds of a john gagging on ejaculate, then rinsing his mouth out; a man covered in AIDS lesions; and ultimately, a violent sexual assault. The pace isn't relentless, as we get moments of humor and beauty in between, but the movie relishes the sordid details above anything else, in a way that's likely to alienate viewers who might otherwise appreciate the acting and the story.
So is Mysterious Skin a good movie? Hard to say. Mostly, it creeps you out, and not in any kind of fun way.
