'Heavenly Creatures'

I got about 20 minutes into this film wondering who the actress portraying Pauline Parker. I knew her from something. I had a hunch. I needed to clarify.

My hunch was right.

It was "Rose" from the sitcom "Two and a Half Men," which once featured the polarizing Charlie Sheen. It was Melanie Lynskey.

I've always found her rather attractive on the sitcom, but I knew next to nothing about her history or past. I didn't know she was from New Zealand or that she got the co-starring role in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures after a casting director found the 17-year-old at a local high school. Pure luck.

Taking in her entire career, her sitcom career is kind of her second fiddle. She's had semi-big roles in a bunch of films with the best of the best in Hollywood. Her leading-lady days may never come, but she's probably most valuable in a supporting role.

Anyway, I absolutely loved this film. It didn't hurt having Kate Winslet acting like a complete nut, only overshadowed by Lynskey. I typically don't enjoy Peter Jackson films. I think he overdirects and is too self-involved. Unless you're Alfred Hitchcock, putting yourself into your own movies is pretty pretentious. I think everything he's done recently has been pretty awful if not too much. Doesn't know when to stop.

It appears he knew exactly when to stop pre-Lord of the Rings. Heavenly Creatures is about what is taken away from the audience. You leave it wanting more and you leave his later movies just wanting to leave. I doubt what Jackson does gets any better than this film.