Diary of a Nymphomaniac

This film is a throwback to the 1970's and 1980's, where films had to pretend to be exploring psychology to show lots of scenes of love making. It is in the "Belle de Jour," and "Emmanuel" style of filmmaking.

Belén Fabra is quite beautiful and she's a good actress. you feel her enjoyment of sex, but also her shyness.

This is a gentle and nicely photographed/set designed movie that has just enough of a plot to hold the viewer's interest.

If there could be a genre called feminist porn, this might be a type. The film is as anxious about revealing the lead character's emotional state as it is about revealing her body.

The lead character, Valérie, learns lessons about love and sex, but it is hard to say exactly what those lessons are. Perhaps, it is only that they don't always turn out well, but that's no reason to stop either activity.

Geraldine Chaplin makes a quick appearance as a wise grandmother. It is great to see her and she adds a bit of seriousness to this quite light and enjoyable movie.

Leonardo Sbaraglia is good as Valerie's handsome potential life mate and lover, Jaime.

Diary Of A Sex Addict is a nice looking film and it's well-acted. I think they were serious in making a sexually-charged drama and not some sexploitation film.

My big problem with this film is that everything you'll see, you've seen before if you have watched all of Alexander Gregory Hippolyte's films from the early 1990's. Sex addict who keeps a diary? Check. Hunky mystery man who turns out to be a jealous maniac who wants Valere to himself? Check. Cigarette smoking? Check. A brothel? Check. Tons and tons 'o nudity? Check.

It is a well-done film with good acting but take that all away and you're left with the same dated film that Gregory Dark was making back in the early 90's for the MFV market. I really don't see anything special or groundbreaking in this one. However, it is nice to see somebody without augmentations like Belen Fabra here.

Valére is very close to her grandmother Marie Tasso (Geraldine Chaplin). She struggles to find love ever since losing her virginity at 15. She writes all of her sexual experiences in a diary. She falls for Jaime but when she tells him about her pregnancy, he becomes unstable and rejects her. She is short of money and takes a job as a high class prostitute.

This is an art house erotic movie but I don't get a sense of tension. She's basically a single woman looking for love. Then she takes the prostitution job for the cash. The character is missing the desperate sexual needs that the title suggests. It needs to heighten the danger. It's artsy nudity without much tension.

It's acted well and filmed beautifully. It's a classy production. But I agree with another reviewer here, this belongs on Lifetime as a B movie.

Too many holes in the story telling.

• The first time she calls her bipolar husband a pathological liar, he hadn't lied in the movie yet.

• He threatens her, but no threat is ever shown on screen. So, she decides to threaten suicide?

• The last time we see her with her gay boss, he's telling her to take a vacation. Next thing we see and hear is she lost her job? And she has to turn to prostitution?

Too many holes in the story telling where the viewer has to think, "Well, maybe this? Maybe that? Maybe those things happened off screen?" Not good directing or editing.

(Some of these complaints are cliches that could be beneficial for younger viewers who haven't seen many movies about this topic.

• She makes a common mistake lots of young women make. Falls in love and marries a guy who showers her in money and romance too quickly before really getting to know him.

• She falls in love with her prostitution clients.)

No problem with the message of female impowerment and sexual freedom. But the story telling has too many holes.

This movie is realistic, cruel, provocative and sexy but at the same time so very elegant and pure. Belen Fabra is a wonderful actress who is one hundred percent suitable for the role and she is the reason I liked this movie so much. She gives a magical sense to it. She makes you feel whatever she feels. The directing is unique and although the movie presents a lot of "raw material", for some reason,it is so delicate and sophisticated. It's not an other (soft) porn movie, it is a movie which conveys some of the greatest values in life and presents them in a way we have not been used to seeing. This is what makes it so special. I strongly recommend it to mature and open-minded audiences, with a hard stomach.