Mesmerized (1999)

Academy Award® winner Jodie Foster is brilliant in this beautifully told story of passion and deception. Product Description

A Great Fan Must have in your Collection !

If you are as great as of fan as I to Jode Foster then Should I say more. this move is great wonderfull, and a must have for your collection. as always, Jode Foster again keeps the drama and motion of the moive going, giving you the great feeling that you are right beside her all the way throughout the whole movie. A must have. March 11, 2008

Beware!

I'd have to agree with the other viewer that I'm shocked as well this film was released on DVD. At least the price is in check with the quality, although in spite of this, I still don't it's worth it. I can't understand why a title such as this would be brought to DVD, when so many other quality movies have yet to be released on DVD. And speaking of quality, that's the biggest problem with this movie - it looks like it was recorded from a tv with 'rabbit ears' tuned to a distant station. Picture quality - grainy. I do give it 2 stars though (instead of one), because it's based on a true story, and John Lithgow does a fine acting job. October 1, 2005

Cheaper at Wal-Mart

It's in the $5.88 bin or you can buy it online for that same price. February 6, 2004

A LOVE TRANGLE OF PASSION AND MURDER

This Gothic melodrama features Jodie Foster as a naive young bride, and John Lithgow as her mysterious, voyeuristic husband.Victoria, an orphan with neither home nor money, suddenly wins the attentions of Oliver Thompson, a prosperous, older businessman. He weds her, but they continue to live apart while she remains in school. When Victoria does finally move into his home, she finds her husband has some strange habits -- including the desire to spy on her undressing, while never consummating the marriage.Increasingly uneasy and unhappy in this situation, Victoria unsuccessfully tries to escape -- only to find Oliver ready and waiting to bring her back home again.Now the desperate woman believes she has just one option left: to murder her husband... September 21, 2003

SHOCKED THAT THIS FILM WAS EVER RELEASED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

The premise for the film is intriguing. It is based upon the Victoria Thompson murder trial that took place in New Zealand during the late nineteenth century. Victoria is raised is some sort of orphanage from birth. At the age of seventeen, it is arranged for her to marry Mr. Thompson, a weird, older man whom she has never before met. She dutifully marries him, and when she comes of age goes to live with him in his home, which is run by his two creepy servants. Victoria soon discovers just how weird her husband really is. She ultimately takes the bull by the horns and finds herself standing trial for his murder by the time she is nineteen years old.

Jodie Foster places the role of Victoria Thompson, as if she were doing so under duress. She takes a character that is potentially sympathetic and makes her merely pathetic, leaving the viewer cold. John Lithgow fares somewhat better, as he does a credible job playing the weird Mr. Thompson, doing the best he can with the material with which he has to work. The film, unfortunately, is choppy and poorly edited, the story so muddled as to be nearly incomprehensible. The direction seems to be almost nonexistant, as it looks like it is every man for himself.

This film was originally released under the title, "Mesmerized". Word about the film must have traveled fast, as bad news so often does. When the DVD was released, it was retitled as "Shocked". The only thing shocking about this film is that it was ever released in the first place. It is a complete travesty.

The DVD itself has no meaningful special features of which to speak. The quality of the film is very poor, grainy and fuzzy. Even the cover art of the DVD has nothing to do with the film. It is simply a photograph of a contemporary Jodie Foster. All in all, this DVD is not worth buying. The only reason this film was not rated one star was due to John Lithgow's performance. If you are not a John Lithgow fan, deduct one star. November 25, 2001

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