I haven't liked everything that I've seen from writer-director Alex Ross Perry. In fact, I really disliked the last time I watched one of his films that starred Elisabeth Moss. But I try to remain open-minded about every film I choose to watch, and I'd heard some other people give positive opinions of Her Smell.
This is the story of a self-destructive rocker (Becky Something, played by Moss) who we watch for the first half of the movie sink further and further into a dark hole. Absolutely narcissistic, deeply unpleasant, and unable to see how her behaviour is negatively impacting the career trajectory of herself and her bandmates, Becky absolutely refuses to get the help that she so desperately needs. Up to a point. The second half of the movie is a quieter, and more fragile, exploration of someone trying to see if they can embrace sobriety without losing their creative spark.
Look, I can completely understand if people struggle so much during the first half of Her Smell that they give up on the film. It's a real chore, forcing viewers to spend time with an absolute nightmare of a main character. It doesn't feel forced though, nor does it feel fake, and all of this bad stuff is there to show how far Becky needs to move forward to escape the perils of her own mentality. It's not just that Her Smell presents that character forced into making a major life decision, but Perry somehow gets you on her side as people observe Becky and wonder about whether or not she can really change her ways.
Moss is fantastic in the lead role, happy to be as horrible and repugnant as possible. She's surprisingly believable as this kind of rocker, and does equally well with the hysterical moments and the much calmer ones. Agyness Deyn is also very good, as Marielle Hell (a bandmate who has been put through the wringer far too many times), and so is Gayle Rankin (playing Ali van der Wolff). Dan Stevens is an ex-partner trying to do the best by a young child, Eric Stoltz is a stressed manager, and other musicians are played by Cara Delevingne, Ashley Benson, Dylan Gelula, and Amber Heard, all fitting nicely into their roles. It would be remiss of me not to mention Virginia Madsen, playing a mother who doesn't really know the right way to deal with her daughter.
We've seen this story before, quite a few times, but I cannot think of a time when it was presented in quite the same way, with the focus being on that worry about a calmed mind losing any creativity. That's a common fear for many artists, of course, but Perry really puts it front and centre here, having the central characters explore and discuss the idea, as opposed to leaving it hanging in the air like an unspoken fear. I appreciated the way this poked and prodded the situation, particularly when showing how a band keeps working under great strain while they hunger for more of the success they have tasted, and I think the ending makes the difficult first half worthwhile. It's a close call though, and others will strongly disagree.
7/10
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