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00:21:42 |
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00:25:11 |
| SUMMARY |
Dr. Frank questions Jessica about her parents and their violent deaths. Jessica angrily insists that she doesn't have anger problems and feels fantastic. That night, Jessica is home alone when she hears noises outside her window. Later, she gets drunk and sorts through her box of mementos. Eventually, she passes out. |
| ANALYSIS |
In contrast to his last encounter with Jessica, this time Dr. Frank lives up to his name and confronts Jessica about some difficult personal issues. Indeed, it would be easy to believe that Jessica doesn't have any difficult personal issues, considering her technique of indicating her level of nonchalance with how many props she's handling. This therapy session finds Jessica chowing down on a sandwich, guzzling diet cola, and making proclamations like "I'm an open book!" with her mouth full. Certainly, an ordinary observer would assume that Jessica is the most carefree woman in the world. Dr. Frank, however, is a trained professional; in addition, he has full access to Jessica's file, and knows that if there's one way to break down a carefree woman, it's busting out a photograph of her father's horribly mutilated corpse. Possibly, this is Dr. Frank's last resort in order to get Jessica to open up and throw some exposition to the audience, as he is probably clever enough to realize that this is why the movie put her in therapy in the first place. Jessica's reluctance to participate in this exercise is evident in the following exchange:
Naturally, Jessica must cope with this must honesty by drinking a whole bottle of wine by herself. Additionally, she closes her kitchen window tight after hearing suspicious noises outside, symbolizing her tendency to shut out the unknown, and also her apparent concern that the killer will enter through the window even though she lives on a very high floor with no fire escape. As Jessica proceeds to get completely wasted and ponder her parents' deaths, she helpfully shares her thought process with the audience by laying out literal clues on the coffee table, between sloppy swigs of red wine and crying. In response to a framed black and white photo of what appears to be Ashley Judd in a long wig, Jessica informs the picture out loud, "I miss you, mama!" To be sure, now that Dr. Frank has unlocked her capacity for redundant exposition, Jessica is sure to leave no questions whatsoever for even the slowest viewer. |
© The Slow Roll 2007-08