jimbo-53-186511 Frankie (Halle Berry) is a go-go dancer who is struggling with multiple personality disorder (and does her best to try and hide it from her friends and employers). However, one such outburst lands Frankie in jail and in order to avoid jail-time she voluntarily checks herself into a psychiatric hospital. Once there she decides to work with psychotherapist Oz (Stellan Skarsgard)in order to try to gain an understanding of the inner ghosts that haunt her.As well as being the leading actress in this film Halle Berry is also one of the producers so this project clearly meant quite a lot to her - this is perhaps reflected in her performance here and I could see that she really gave this her all. The story is reasonably interesting and the film is well-paced, if not particularly well-structured. So on the one hand, you get a strong lead performance with few, if any, dull moments but there were a few things that kept gnawing away at me whilst I was watching Frankie & Alice...The film is structured with a non-linear narrative and normal films of this nature can be difficult to follow, but when you have a non-linear narrative in a film dealing with multiple personalities it does become a bit too much from time to time - this wasn't helped by the fact that in the early stages of the film that I was struggling to get to grips with which personality was which and how each personality slotted into the story. In the latter stages of the film I was starting to get my head round it all, but it was a struggle at times. Halle Berry's performance is good and certainly memorable, but sadly I didn't always find the screenplay complimented her performance all that well - I didn't think that her other personalities were developed as well as they could have been meaning that I found that I couldn't quite connect with/or get into Frankie's mind-set as much as I should have been able to.Despite my objections above, the film has enough of interest about it to make it worth watching and as already mentioned Halle Berry gives a stellar performance (albeit at times it's a slightly overwhelming one/two woman type performance).

jackie-85977 Great film with a good story (sadly true) and terrific acting from Halle Berry. As the story unfolds the film is slow and mesmerising, with a great soundtrack and spot-on fashion for the period. It's interesting, dramatic and sensitive without being mawkish, I loved it. It's not a new theme, but this one feels very real, one to recommend.

tdhostewart We enjoyed the movie and acting of the beautiful and talented Ms Berry. The quality cast gave additional strong support.After viewing the movie I tried to find more about the primary characters, Francine L. Murdoch (Frankie) and Psychiatrist Joseph Oswald (noted as now deceased in the movie). I found nothing. Just quotes from the original film source disseminated on various sites. No interviews with Frankie, no photos, no publications by Dr. Oswald, no autobiographies or biographies. Nothing.In her interviews for the film Ms. Berry also appears to offer conflicting information about her actual interactions with Frankie...1. NPR Interview (December 31, 2010): Ms. BERRY: "I did meet the real Frankie and Alice, but I didn't meet her until after the process was over. We talked to her, and our writers interviewed her, but the real Frankie didn't remember much as the movie will suggest. So my research was more reading books on the subject. And I actually met a doctor that was willing to answer all of my questions, and he actually allowed me to see hours and hours of real tape of real patients in the therapeutic process going through all of their multiples and struggling with bringing them all together..."2. NAMI (National Allicance on Mental Illness): Ms BERRY:"Initially, it (preparing for the role) was through meeting the real woman that the story is modeled after, Frankie. She was my greatest source of information and inspiration; I wanted to protect her and her story. I wanted to understand and portray her stories of frustration and fear. I felt responsible for making sure that these stories were addressed in the movie. I also did basic reading on DID and mental illness—but most of my understanding and inspiration came from Frankie's life and her story; the personal story is the best source. And finally, Dr. Oz, her doctor, had transcripts as well that spoke to his feelings. I was able to secure some videotapes of health care providers who have worked with and helped people with DID in their recovery." So, what is the real story? Hopefully someone with more resources will discover the real Frankie Murdock or Dr. Joseph Oswald. This would be the perfect follow up to a brave and inspiring film

anitalansing-40-581915 This is the movie in which Halle Berry should have won the Oscar instead of Monster's Ball. The many personalities that she displayed within the movie were realistic and believable. Berry demonstrated hurt, pain, confusion, and delirium. Excellent acting job.The story's plot was so-so. I couldn't understand exactly what was the trauma that caused Frankie to split into different people. How was she able to hold down a job? Even though it was just a sleazy exotic dancer job, how could Frankie perform and dance in an environment filled with Black people when racist Alice was lurking about with her persistent fear of Negros? Also, why did Frankie's sister dislike Frankie so much? What did Frankie do to her? Overlooking the storyline, my focus was on Berry's acting. Top notch. I am sorry it took over four years for the film to be released for nationwide viewing, but it was worth the wait. Halle Berry has shown in this movie that she can act with the best of them....good job Halle.