Frankie & Alice

Frankie & Alice is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Geoffrey Sax, starring Halle Berry. Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2008, and ended in January 2009. To qualify for awards season, the film opened in a limited release on December 10, 2010. It is based on a true story about a popular go-go dancer/stripper in the 1970s who has dissociative identity disorder.

Frankie & Alice
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeoffrey Sax
Produced byHalle Berry
Vince Cirrincione
Simon DeKaric
Hassain Zaidi
Screenplay byCheryl Edwards
Marko King
Mary King
Jonathan Watters
Joe Shrapnel
Anna Waterhouse
Story byOscar Janiger
Philip Goldberg
Cheryl Edwards
StarringHalle Berry
Stellan Skarsgård
Music byAndrew Lockington
CinematographyNewton Thomas Sigel
Edited byDavid M. Richardson
Production
company
Access Motion Pictures
Distributed byCodeBlack Films
Lions Gate Entertainment
(United States 2014)
Release date
  • May 17, 2010 (2010-05-17) (Cannes)
  • December 10, 2010 (2010-12-10) (United States)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$706,546[1]

While the film received mixed reviews from critics, Halle Berry's performance was widely praised and she received several accolades, including a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Plot

Frankie is performing at a Los Angeles club in 1973. She is one of the best strippers at the club, and often attracts the attention of wealthy businessmen. One night, the club's female employees go out for a "Girls Night". As the girls observe all the men at the bar, Frankie gets the attention of a well-known bartender. She agrees to go to his home for casual sex. Before the two can engage in any sexual activity, Frankie switches to an alter ego, and cracks the man's head open with a picture frame. Word of Frankie's violent activity spreads to the strip club quickly, and Frankie is fired from the needed job. Similarly psychotic episodes occur while Frankie is at the laundromat and a wedding.

Frankie starts psychiatric therapy with Doctor Oz. During a session, Frankie learns that she has two alters: Genius, a seven-year-old child; and Alice, a Southern white racist woman, whom Frankie struggles to overcome. Through regular sessions with Dr. Oz, Frankie begins to recall the traumatic events that led to her split personality. She realizes that, when she was a teenager, she was in love with a white man who died in a car accident while they were on the road. In the same session, she also uncovers the memory of the birth of her child. Moments after the birth, Frankie's mother realizes that the child is half-white, and kills it, thus triggering Frankie's personality to split.

After she watches the taped sessions, and puts everything together, Frankie begins the healing process, taking control of her life and semi-integrating the personalities that Dr. Oz assures her will always be present.

Cast

Release

It had a limited release in the United States on December 10, 2010, to qualify for awards. The film had a wide theatrical release on April 4, 2014.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 21% based on reviews from 33 critics. The website's critics consensus states: "Halle Berry gives it her all (and then some), but Frankie & Alice is ultimately too narratively strained and clumsily assembled to do her performance justice."[2] On Metacritic it has a score of 47% based on reviews from 14 criitcs, indicating "mixed or average reviews.[3]

Following a screening at the Cannes Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a well-wrought psychological drama that delves into the dark side of one woman's psyche". The review also said Halle Berry was "spellbinding" as Frankie, with "rock-solid" supporting performances.[4]

Accolades

References
  1. "Frankie & Alice". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  2. "Frankie & Alice (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  3. "Frankie & Alice". Metacritic. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  4. Byrge, Duane. "Frankie & Alice -- Film Review", The Hollywood Reporter. October 15, 2010
  5. "Frankie and Alice". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  6. "Frankie & Alice". VincentCirrincione.com. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
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