Tag Archives: barbara-hershey

One critic gushes that the psychological drama and its star, Natalie Portman, are ‘unmissable and unforgettable.’ By Eric Ditzian Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” Photo: Fox Searchlight Only folks in eight select major metropolitan cities across North America will have a chance to see “Black Swan” this weekend. And as for the weekend after that, unless you’re a proud resident of, say, Detroit or happen to be swooping into St Louis for a little holiday, you’ll still be out of luck. The rest of the country will have to wait a full two weeks from now, as Fox Searchlight slowly rolls out this Oscar darling about the ultra-competitive world of professional ballet. Is it any consolation to say that even if you can’t see “Black Swan” this weekend, you can at least read the thoughts of those who have? Well, you can, because reviews for Darren Aronofsky’s follow-up to “The Wrestler” have been pouring in. Here’s what the critics are saying about “Black Swan.” The Story “Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) has obsessively perfected her flawless technique at an unnamed New York company for years when she’s finally considered for the lead in an upcoming production of ‘Swan Lake.’ As her manipulative artistic director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), observes, Nina possesses all the innocence and self-control of the Swan Queen, but his ‘stripped-down, visceral’ version of the ballet demands that she also portray the Black Queen. She’s a sinuous, primal persona he doesn’t think Nina can pull off. It’s difficult to disagree: With her breathy whisper of a voice, cosseted home life with overprotective mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) and wide-eyed sexual na