Her Smell

Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin, Dan Stevens, Amber Heard, Cara Delevingne, Ashley Benson, Dylan Gelula, Eric Stoltz, Virginia Madsen

Director: Alex Ross Perry

Becky Something (Elisabeth Moss) is the lead singer of an all female group with Marielle (Agyness Deyn) and Ali (Gayle Rankin), that finds instant success after being discovered by their manager, Howard (Eric Stoltz). Years later, that success has given way towards bitterness and resentment among the group, while also destroying Becky’s marriage to Danny (Dan Stevens) and turning her into an unfit mother. Becky has grown into an unlikeable and larger than life persona, turning to drugs and alcohol to power through performances. Becky, who is always pushing to try to reignite the creative spark the band experienced early in their career, goes one step too far, which pushes Ali and Marielle to leave the group. Luckily for Becky and unluckily for everyone else, their manager has signed a new girl group (Cara Delevingne, Ashley Benson, Dylan Gelula) that Becky wants to use to replace her exiting band mates. Continuing to be selfish, Becky completely implodes and ends up arrested. Her hard fall from grace leads to an epiphany about how she was living her life and helps pave the way to her redemption. Writing an unlikeable lead is a big risk. And for a large portion of the film, Becky does little to gain favor from anyone, onscreen or in the audience. Watching the film is like having backstage passes to a rock star’s meltdown. At times it’s really hard to watch because you never really know what Becky is going to do next. Elizabeth Moss is absolutely riveting as Becky. The whole cast, which is stacked, is uniformly excellent ins particular Agyness Deyn. I have never seen her in anything before but I feel like she is due to break out as a big star. The film has a lot to say and Director Alex Ross Perry does a phenomenal job balancing a lot of elements, first and foremost is the tone of the film. What begins as a sad portrait of a rock star who has crumbled under the weight of fame, ultimately turns into a gut wrenching redemption tale. A critical scene takes place about two thirds of the way through the film where Becky performs a rendition of Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” to her daughter. It’s truly haunting and helps push the film towards an uplifting and sentimental ending. For a two hour and 15 minute movie, there also aren’t that many actual scenes. Perry is content to follow Becky and the other characters at one given point in time. These scenes often take place at concerts or backstage, bringing the expected hectic chaos one would expect. Perry keeps it realistic in these scenes, as dialogue is hard to make out. This may prove frustrating to some but I enjoyed the approach. This was the first movie I have seen from Alex Ross Perry. While not for everyone, i greatly enjoyed his approach to telling a familiar story. Your enjoyment of the film will greatly depend on how much Becky you can stand. But if you can stick by her through her rough patch, you will be rewarded in the end. A-