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Review by Jennifer Pflughaupt

Diane Arbus (Kidman) is living the picture perfect life in the 1950’s. She has a successful marriage, two daughters, and a profession in the family fur business as her husband’s assistant. But, nevertheless, there is something tugging at her heartstrings and longing to break free from the so-called “good life”. On one of the most important days of her husband’s photography career, a kink develops when a new neighbor moves in upstairs on the same day. Diane catches a glimpse of the unexpected, masked disrupter and immediately her intrigue is aroused. As her husband forages to make Diane feel comfortable in her own skin, he encourages her to begin taking portraits with the camera he gave her some years prior.

  Always drawn to the bizarre and peculiar, she reaches out to the mysterious neighbor to be the subject of her new found hobby. Her neighbor, Lionel (Robert Downey, Jr.), is the catalyst to her au courant quest and flips her world into the grandiose life she endlessly desired and adored, but was always sheltered and shunned away from.

Unfamiliar with Arbus or her work, I began watching this film and was instantly caught off guard and a bit nervous. I am not a big proponent for nudity in film in any form or fashion, so when I saw a naked, elderly man mowing his lawn in the opening scene, I was reeling. I continued watching, wincing for about the first 10 minutes because everyone was nude. I soon came to the revelation that this shouldn’t be so surprising considering that Nicole is the main character in the film. (90% of the films I could think of with her in them, there was some sort of nudity and/or sex scene.) Then, 45 minutes later (give or take a few), I came to another revelation.

  This film; nudity, sex and all, is absolutely exquisite. The story is exactly how it is titled, "an imaginary portrait of Diane Arbus”. Real person, imaginary story. I loved every second of this, no matter how uncomfortable or weird it got. This story is an honest examination of the human heart and how beauty should be viewed. The photography is so telling that the audience could watch the film with no dialogue whatsoever, and you will feel everything that the character does. I believe that the direction and photography in this film was so pure and immaculate that Steven Shainberg should be nominated for an Academy Award. As usual Nicole gives a flawless performance and it is her bravest role yet. A familiar, yet rarely seen face in film these days was surprisingly my favorite person in “Fur”. Robert Downey, Jr. adds a refreshing grace to the screen and was a pleasure to watch throughout the film. I give “Fur” 4½ stars out of 5.

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Jennifer is a freelance film critic with an overloaded life. She has a rock star husband, a 2 year old daughter, a military career in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, and she is also a full time student at UNT working towards getting her degree in kicking butt and taking names. Some of her favorite films are “Heart of the Game”, “The Lords of Dogtown”, “American History X”, “The Boondock Saints”, “Miss Congeniality”, “The United States of Leland” , “Return to Me” and “Thank You for Smoking”. You can check out her personal information, plus read her writings and reviews on Myspace .