Hysteria Review

                     Hysteria is being called "the vibrator movie" by many people. This may be because it is about the man who invented the first electric vibrator. That man is Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy)-a doctor who specializes in woman's medical research. His best friend is Edmund (Rupert Everett) and the man who hires him is Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathon Pryce). Robert has two beautiful daughters-Charlotte and Emily (Maggie Gyllenhaal and Felicity Jones). Charlotte is  the troubled daughter while Emily is daddy's little girl. Mortimer immediately falls in love with Emily. Mortimer is also assigned to pleasure women with his hands. After a while, he gets the idea for something that will pleasure women without him getting his hands tired.

                     The film is really about so much more than the invention of the vibrator. In fact-the scene in which Mortimer even comes up with the idea does not occur until a little less than an hour into the film. Dancy is fantastic here. He has always been a really solid actor-but here he brings what could have been a completely shallow character to life. Everett, Gyllenhaal and Jones are also very good here. However, the real standout is Pryce-who gives us an extremely funny and interesting character with whom we actually start to care for even though he is portrayed as a somewhat unlikable character most of the time. 

                   Also, the film features an absolutely hysterical performance from Sheridan Smith playing Molly-a  prostitute turned maid for Robert and her daughters. However, while the performers are great and the story is charming-it lacks any real bite or originality. It is such a funny, enjoyable, and well done film that I suppose I should forget about this. I feel obliged to bring it up, though because I feel as if some people will go in expecting an original, biting satire and they will sadly not get it. The film also slows down a bit in its final scenes which are played out in a rather silly manner.

Hysteria is an often very entertaining comedy. I enjoyed all the references to the fact that it was the late 1800's, but it could have used a bit more. I am going to go ahead and recommend the film for anyone looking for a good time and nothing else.
(3 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for sexual content)