MARIA Bello stars as one of those, “Hi, I like to cut myself” women in “Downloading Nancy,” an icky S&M thriller.
The plot could be fully told in about five scenes, but the film keeps slowing things down with long, irrelevant flashbacks about the woman’s psychotherapy sessions, in which she talks about her habit of slicing herself up and her death wish. There are also endlessly repeated takes on the lameness of her husband (Rufus Sewell) and his obsession with golf.
Gradually we get around to the crux of the story, which is that Bello’s character has been trawling the Internet to find a guy (Jason Patric) she hopes will hurt her even more than she can herself. Some suspense arises about just how far the woman’s sickness will take her, but it’s overwhelmed by the pointlessness of the story.
Running time: 101 minutes. Not rated (graphic violence, sex, nudity, profanity). At the Village East, 12th Street and Second Avenue.