Bleeding Heart Reviews

This drama centers on a yoga teacher named May (Jessica Biel) who finally finds her long-lost half-sister (Zosia Mamet), only to discover that she's a prostitute being pimped out by her psychotic boyfriend Cody (Joe Anderson). There's some fascinating material here about people who speak the language of do-gooder, touchy-feely, spiritual-but-not-religious liberalism, but who ultimately aren't interested in helping someone else if it means disrupting their own life. Unfortunately, any kind of thematic depth is undermined by the ham-fisted writing, which spells everything out in the most obvious way possible. The sister is nicknamed Shiva, for example, and just in case we still didn't get it, another character explains that, just like the Hindu god, she destroys everything she comes in contact with.Jessica Biel is bland as usual, although it fits a character who's supposed to be half-formed from a life spent in bourgeoisie comfort. The real standout is Mamet, who's so good she actually turns Shiva into a believable, complex character, forcing us to keep guessing who this woman really is -- a con artist, a desperate victim, or an actual friend to May? The late turn into thriller territory feels contrived, and at the same time, mostly works because the stakes are kept realistic: Cody is a violent abuser rather than a supervillain, and there's no easy way for the two women to deal with him. That said, the cat-and-mouse action beats at the end are a lot less interesting than the material about May and Shiva's bond and the way it forces both of them to reflect on their lives, and it's tough not to lament the fact that the writing isn't sophisticated enough to make their relationship the real focus of the movie.