Title: Hysteria
Year Released/Rating: 2011 R
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce
Written By: Stephen Dyer, Jonah Lisa Dyer, Howard Gensler
Directed By: Tanya Wexler
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Star Rating: 5/5 stars
Where I Got It: Redbox rental
Trivia: Dr. Granvilles electromechanical vibrator was portable but had a wet cell battery that weighed about 40 pounds.
Summary: The truth of how Mortimer Granville devised the invention of the first vibrator in the name of medical science.
Review: This has been on my list for awhile. The movie did not disappoint. It's something like a romcom but set in the 1880s. We see a man and woman come from very different perpectives who grow to appreciate each other. In the process, the man helps invent the vibrator. Sounds like one fun ride. It was entertaining and delightful. Maggie Gyllenhaal is awesome like always. Hugh Dancy plays a great bumbling doctor. And Jonathan Pryce shines as the slightly backwards physician. Loved it!
Best Bits:
- Molly: What do you call that little thing? Edmund Smythe: I was calling it the feather duster. Molly: Well I'd think of something quick, so that a girl knows what to ask for.
- [first lines] Mrs. Bellamy: I truly don't even know why I'm here, doctor. [pen scraping] Well, of course it's difficult running a large household by oneself. And raising four children is exacting, but they're wonderful, wonderful children. And my husband, he's a good man. A very hard worker. Um... Ahem. Well, there is just one thing. Sometimes at night, when he comes to me, I imagine myself splitting his fat bald head with a great large ax.[pen scraping]
- Charlotte Dalrymple: I'm fine. I have lots of friends in prison.
