Love Object can easily be the most oddest film of the year. Odd in the sense that the film's plot is very different, but somewhat truthful in sexual fantasies and loneliness. Its harder for some to speak with the opposite sex and sometimes nerves can take over. Such, can clearly be seen with the lead character in this film.
The film follows Kenneth who is played by actor Desmond Harrington. A very quiet and lonely man he is who on the internet purchases a ten thousand dollar human doll. He doesn't have that amount of money, but he intends to pay it off later. His hormones ran like a cheetah when he received his special item and the use of the doll is obvious.
Actually, its quite a bit far from obvious. Desmond Harrington living in a small apartment by himself and hardly any friends transforms into almost a psychopath. Just take for instance, no family around, no girlfriend, no life. Well, not exactly because Kenneth does have a job and isn't going to commit suicide because his life is not exciting.
Kenneth sees beauty in Lisa who is played by actress Melissa Sagemiller. Her eyes, lips, face, body, just everything is memorized by Kenneth. For the sake of spoilers, I won't say what occurs with those features of Lisa that Kenneth loves, but it plays a big part in the film. With the innocent there is always a guilty side, that's something to remember.
In Love Object, something horribly goes wrong. With the incidents that occur in the film, characters begin to transform and change completely. They don't necessarily change for the better and the change occurs mainly for Desmond's character. Desmond Harrington never doubts his performance in the film and he certainly delivers a good solid performance, if a bit off at times.
While watching Love Object, the film can seem a bit ridiculous and funny at times because of its subject matter. It has to be taken under a consideration that the plot itself is rather hilarious. It certainly is no laughing matter when the film erupts and the horror shows up on the screen. Harrington plays the character well and character development is something that did not lack in Love Object.
This film is the debut for Robert Parigi as a writer and director. The screenplay for Love Object is not a completely solid one and had places where it could have improved, but the direction from Parigi is certainly unique and controlled. He gave the film a great amount of depth and interest with his style. The film's budget is only one million dollars and Parigi doesn't waste one penny of it.
Love Object doesn't necessarily make you jump out of your seat in fright, but instead it has an atmosphere that just won't go away. For one thing, it does take skill to keep a mood flowing through a film's running time and Parigi doesn't disappoint with that. Its disturbing images, flashbacks and unpredictable situations leads the film in the point and experience it wants to show.
It can seem like Love Object is simply a film that is completely unrealistic. However, once viewed you can begin to notice that the problems and obsessions in the film happen whether one thinks so or not. To take this concept and transform it into a film isn't an easy task, but Parigi and his cast have enough talent to satisfy the public of the matter they have witnessed.
Love Object has a very interesting concept and manages to keep its composure. While the film is not always sane, it doesn't have any major flaws. The film has a very unique style and for its budget, it squeezes out most of the juice from a lemon. Horror films like Love Object don't come around quite often and while some are better without a doubt, it still manages to make its point. The film, however, should have been called "Sex Object", "Love" could be misleading the audience.
Love Object