This Was Part One Of Last Week's "Svengoolie" Alternate Double Feature!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        One of the problems with "Eileen" was its source, the novel by Ortessa Mosfegh.  I have read both it and her "My Year Of Rest And Relaxation," so let me just say she will not be an author whose writing I will follow.

                                      And this disappointment permeates into the film version, which has so much promise, what with a cast like Anne Hathaway, and Marin Ireland; the latter in a stunning performance, who delivers a monologue that will be used by future actresses in classes to come.

                                        "Eileen" has so much promise--a kind of "Persona"/"Single White Female" riff, or a potential lesbian "Fatal Attraction," but nothing is developed, and when the unexpected happens, the viewer is thrown, for no discernible reason.  For all the good acting the characters go nowhere; the only exception may be Thomasin McKenzie, in her portrayal of the title role.  She demonstrates an ambivalent character who doesn't want to be what she is yet turns out to be not what the viewer thought she was.  Am I making sense?  If not, it is because much of the movie does not, despite all its psychological pinings, and the skill of each actor's performance.

                                             The movie ends with a jolt.  Eileen hitchhikes just gets on a tractor trailer truck and leaves her repressed Massachusetts town.  There is no doubt in my mind where she is going--New York City.

                                               A sequel could be potentially interesting.  Because when Eileen arrives in New York, the city had better watch out.