"Boxing Helena" is the controversial picture that Kim Basinger decided she didn't want to make, which led to a court battle and an eventual $9 million fine.
After watching the film, however, her decision to back out of the project is understandable.
Writer-director Jennifer Lynch has made a movie that attempts dark comedy and horror but which instead merely seems simplistic, dull-witted and misogynistic. Add to that a conclusion that proves she does not have the courage of her convictions, and it's apparent the entire film is not very well thought out.
Sherilyn Fenn plays the title character, a mean-spirited, evil woman who rebuffs the meek-but-obsessed doctor (Julian Sands) who pursues her. So, when she is hit by a truck in front of his house, the good doctor amputates her legs. Later, to keep her under control, he also cuts off her arms.
To put her in her place, Sands keeps the torso in an open box in his living room, a box that appears to be more of a puppet theater - and dressed in lace like a broken doll, Fenn is, in a way, Sands' puppet. But, of course, she still refuses to love him.
There are some interesting ideas around the edges of all this, and Lynch has a good visual sense. But the film is superficial and silly, unsuccessful in all of the various tones she attempts.
Though the description here may sound like a vehicle for special-effects gore, there is none. The amputations are off-screen. There is ample explicit sex, however, which accounts for the film's original NC-17 rating, later edited to get an R.