Review of Roman

Roman(Lucky McKee)is a welder who lives a pretty monotonous existence while he obsesses after work over a young, beautiful woman(Kristen Bell, her name is never mentioned, but Roman calls her Isis)who walks nearby his apartment everyday. He fantasizes about her and can not stop thinking about this woman. A chance meeting between the two has possibilities of romance. She is quite a charmer, with this radiant glow and unflappability which works awkwardly opposite the aloof, slumbering quiet of Roman. What comes out is mostly compliments because he can not help staring endlessly into her face, waxing poetic in his heart for her. She stops by his apartment at his request and Roman handles her leaving badly because the idea of exiting from his sight at this point in time seems too much a burden to bear. But, in wrestling "Isis" to the ground, he accidentally strangles her. With options limited, Roman places her body on ice in his bathroom. Then, the film at times almost forgets about her. A new woman enters the picture, Eva(the truly wonderful Nectar Rose, who is a revelation in this part)..a sexual dynamo obsessed with death and conversations about it. Death is the topic that plays the heavy part over the story. It's everywhere and Roman can not seem to escape it. Roman, every Sunday, extracts a major body part(arm one Sunday, leg the next week)of the girl and spends a day with it at a lake off the beaten path in a secluded spot where the possibilities of being caught is almost nil. He spends his time with each part as if it was Isis right there with him slurping a beer like the first time they ever met on the apartment rooftop. Isis is his girl on this day, while Eva slowly becomes the other vital part of his life during the rest of the time. She's unusual, a little weird, but has an air of spontaneity..this encapsulating aura that pulls you in her orbit. Through her spirit, we see bits of humanity slowly emerge. The woebegone nature we were seeing at the opening is changing as he awakens from his emotional purgatory. But, Eva's strong feelings about death, talking about and discussing it, analyzing why people are sore afraid of it makes him very uncomfortable. Obviously, the topic of death is something Roman would truly care about avoiding, but Eva is persistent that he get with the program and not turn away from it. Being close-minded is something she can not tolerate.

The keys to this film I believe are the main emotional punches to the gut of the title character, Roman. Two women impact his life..and their lives end in tragedy. One didn't wish to die and another embraced it without backing away. The film comes to a head when Eva completes her artistic project allowing Roman to feast his eyes on the results. They impact him in ways he would never imagine.