Film Review – May December

Casting professional turned screenwriter Samy Burch attempts to resurrect the saga of Mary Kay Letourneau for “May December,” which isn’t a strict dramatization of the famous sex offender story, but it definitely uses it for inspiration. Burch doesn’t rehash the salacious details of the crime, turning it into an unusual detective story instead, using the ways of Hollywood professionalism and commitment to inspire a strange examination of obsession involving the method of an actress hired to play a Letourneau-like woman. Director Todd Haynes certainly has experience in areas of fixation and repressed trauma (previously helming “Carol” and “Velvet Goldmine”), working to give “May December” an atmosphere of uneasiness while slowly tunneling his way into the minds of fractured and manipulative characters. The feature has a way of remaining elusive, which isn’t always welcome, but Haynes has strong performances to manage, and an interesting approach from Burch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com