American Mary

I first read about this in a recent issue of Fangoria magazine. It sounded so weird, but original: Katharine Isabelle (Freddy vs. Jason, Ginger Snaps) plays a med student named Mary. Her bills are quickly piling up with no way to pay them. Eventually she decides to resort to stripping, but on her first night she ends up performing surgery on a bouncer with a nasty eye injury. She also receives $5,000 for her troubles. Word gets out that Mary is able to do surgeries that might be considered unconventional, and she ends up dropping out of med school and making a business out of body modification surgeries.

Mary's luck does turn around, but she seems to go through a psychological change as well. At first you feel bad for her. Then she goes from hero to villain in a short time. But it does make sense. Without spoiling anything, Mary goes through a very traumatic event at the hands of someone she trusted. So by the last 30-40 minutes of the film, she basically snaps because of it. She becomes this tragic figure, but it's done in such a great way. We see that Mary wasn't able to choose how her life went at certain points, but she's still bound and determined that things end up in her favor.

I should mention there are two writers: The Soska Sisters. These are the ladies responsible for Dead Hooker in a Trunk and See No Evil 2. While their first two films are questionable in taste, American Mary is actually a solid effort from them. I give it a 4 out of 5. It's different and interesting, funny, and Isabelle shines as Mary.  I say go out and buy it. It would be a great movie to have in any collection.