It was a strange experience watching this. I’d wanted to watch it for a long time, because it’s the sort of film that is right up my street, but all the reviews were so bad I had put it off until it came on Sky. I can see why the reviews were so bad but I suspect there was a really good film here trying to get out. Apparently the studio trimmed about half an hour off the director’s running time – if that was all the exposition and character development it would explain the massive imbalance between style and substance in the final product. It would also explain why someone as talented as Theron would agree to be in the film. If there is ever a director’s cut released, I’d probably buy it. But unless you’re a trash-film-junkie like me I wouldn’t recommend watching this present version.