Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Initially disappointed that this wasn't a film about a French lady who had a passionate and full sexual relationship with a chimpanzee. (You can't blame me and it does have Nicole Kidman in the starring role). I found I hadn't wasted me pocket money on a bottle of Cava and a packet of cheesy puffs for nothing. This film, for me, explored a facet of Diane's personality. I mean, how a 'normal' American wife with a family chose to photograph those who would have been regarded at the time as freaks. The woman's photos are beautiful and naked. And so is this film. I feel the film is not about her photos in themselves but about an aspect of her personality that found the 'freakish' to be beautiful and sexual. For me the film was honest. Real sexuality has little to do with how the media define it as being something that belongs to he world of silicone and air brushing. You don't have good sex that unites you to the eternal spirit with someone who is more worried about how their butt looks than 'la la la ing' you to ecstasy. The story deconstructs sexuality, it explores it from different angles. But hey, it isn't a sex movie, it is subtle. It is more about nudity and release. It's well worth watching. It's a beautiful movie. If you want to get to know Diane Arbus though, go to a library - if you still have one - and borrow a book of her photos. This film won't inform you of her life but I feel it will motivate you to find out about it. It's a shame though,I so wanted to say that the Chimp who played Robert Downey Jr was really good....

I thought that this film was awful, like stunk on ice awful. Kidman can certainly carry off the doe eyed innocent, but she can't make it interesting. Even RDJr, who is generally worth sitting through almost anything, except this, could not save this or make it worth the 2 hours and change of my life that I will never get back.Ty Burrell was nice to see in a non-silly role, completely unlike his TV persona.The movie was painfully boring, pretentious and self conscious to the point of being unwatchable. I must admit, I threw in the towel about 45 minutes in and watched a documentary on PBS. Time better spent.

As an early representation of the turmoil of the 1960's that followed, Diane Arbus (Nicole Kidman) can be excused as an early flower child. The film itself deserves no such latitude. The lack of character development, motivation and justification for the character's behavior makes the movie very disappointing. I sat watching and waiting for some explanation of the bizarre actions only to find that Shainberg was letting me peek into a story that must have been someones inside joke. That the few facts presented did not match Diane Arbus' life very much did not help to clarify things either.The washed out Art Direction in Diane's 'normal' life was nicely contrasted with the brilliant colors in her 'awakening' life with Lionel. And the trap door stairway was a nice demonstration of Diane's attempt to inject her new life into her existing family (However, I don't see how that trap door in the ceiling of her dining room could directly connect to Lionel's apartment which was two flights of stairs up from her's).Maybe my analysis is a little too literal in looking for some character development and relationship understanding that goes beyond one sentence or one comment. I also would have liked to see at least one of Diane's photos as well. I won't wait for the sequel.

I have never read or seen anything about Diane Arrbus before, so I can not comment on that. However, I find this to be the kind of movie you just gasp your way trough. I love the whole imaginary feeling and it really makes the characters pop.Perhaps a bit too long, but that's easily forgotten when you come to one of those breathtakingly beautiful outdoor scenes, or pretty much any scene between Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr. Their chemistry is really amazing. And the two characters they portray makes the whole movie.As said before, a few too long scenes, and some weird music here and there that does not really seem to fit in. But all in all a gorgeous and a little bit strange movie