Willful and dominating Charlotte (a splendid portrayal by Judith Ivey) and her more fragile and passive younger sister Lucy (a terrific performance by Jennifer Jason Leigh) reside in a dreary mansion that they have converted into a guest house in the Louisiana swamps. The arrival of the handsome and enigmatic Matt Rutledge (a sound and engaging Eric Stoltz) forces them to confront a dark secret from their unfortunate past. Director Bill Condon, who also co-wrote the engrossing script with Joel Cohen, relates the absorbing story at a leisurely, yet hypnotic pace, does an expert job of crafting an exquisitely brooding gloom-doom Southern Gothic atmosphere that seethes with pent-up repression and thwarted passion, vividly evokes a dreamy feeling of the remote bayou region, and tosses in a startling, but effective supernatural element at the surprising conclusion. The uniformly excellent acting from a bang-up cast holds everything together: Ivey, Stoltz, and especially Leigh all do sterling work in their roles, with sturdy support from Dennis Lipscomb as the suspicious Sheriff Cleve Doucet and Benjamin Mouton as the smitten and possessive Etienne LeViolette. As a sweet extra plus, the lovely Ms. Leigh bares her yummy body in a couple of sizzling and sensuous soft-core sex scenes as well as takes a steamy bath. Stephen M. Katz's striking'n'stylish golden-hued cinematography and Richard Einhorn's beautifully lush'n'lilting orchestral score both further enhance the overall fine quality of this unjustly neglected little dilly.
Review of Sister, Sister
