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Skin' deep

Traumatic events impact different people in different ways. For the two boys who grow into troubled young men in Gregg Araki's latest film "Mysterious Skin," being sexually molested by their Little League coach, played to creepy perfection by Bill Sage, is an experience they share.
Their resulting adult lives, however, couldn't be more different. One, Neil McCormick, played by the gorgeous Joseph Gordon Levitt, becomes a gay hustler. The other, Brian Lackey (Brady Corbet), becomes a UFO obsessed social recluse.
"Mysterious Skin" follows Brian's quest to find out just what happened the summer he was eight years old and five hours disappeared from his life. As it turns out, alien abduction would have been a blessing compared to what happened to the boy.
As Brian uncovers more about his past, he seeks out Neil. When their lives intersect again at last, it's clear that only Neil can unlock Brian's dark past.
The film is set in the small town of Hutchinson, Kansas, which Neil calls a "stinkin' little buttcrack of a town." It is rife with teen angst and social indifference. Dads work too much and pay too little attention to their kids. Single moms drink beer in front of the TV and give their boyfriends blow jobs on the backyard jungle gym. Teens dream of the day when they can pack up and move somewhere real, like New York City.
Most restless of all the characters is Neil whose past abuse was far more extensive than Brian's. It is clear from the beginning that Neil is gay even as a young boy. In fact, seeing his handsome coach on the first day of practice takes his breath away.
Often ignored by his mother (a stand-out performance by Elisabeth Shue), Neil likes the extra attention he gets from the coach whose house is stocked with sugared cereal, video games, and a big TV.
The adult Neil is beautiful, but largely empty, caring only about himself. This was true even when he was a young boy. In one particularly disturbing scene, Neil assaults and molests the neighborhood "retard" while out trick-or-treating with a friend. As he grows up, he is no less callous or damaged. As a teen he starts turning tricks for cash, a career he continues after his move to New York City in the early 90s. AIDS is never mentioned directly, but it is never far from the viewer's mind during his many risky sexual encounters.
"Mysterious Skin" is not an easy film to watch. It is a harsh look into the very depths of how terrible people can treat each other. At best it will open a dialog about a taboo subject. But the film's journey quickly loses its mystery. By the film's end, we already know what happened to Brian. The graphic retelling seems unnecessary. In fact, while much of the film appears to be aiming for "unflinching," it more often hits "gratuitous." While Araki chooses to imply much of the childhood abuse, he does not spare the viewer from violent scenes involving rape and manipulation.
Araki is a controversial filmmaker. Those who have seen and enjoyed his past films like "The Doom Generation" or "The Living End" have a good idea what to expect. Those who do not wish to be disturbed to their very core, those who do not like to leave a movie theatre feeling emotionally manipulated, even damaged, should go see that new film about penguins or the one about ballroom dancing kids.
Or, you could always do what they did in the olden days and read the book. "Mysterious Skin" is based on the novel of the same name by Scott Heim.

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