one of the indicator of badness in film is the hype being remembered more than film itself . such was the case with boxing helena , 1993 directorial debut of jennifer chambers lynch , daughter of the great david lynch . made in the dying years of post-twin peaks lynch craze among movie snobs , it was hyped as another , " warped , twisted masterpiece " of lynch clan . kim basinger also provided extra publicity by quitting the lead role and being sued for the breech of contract . but , <NEG> the result was extremely disappointing film , which quickly sank into well-deserved oblivion </NEG> . the movie protagonist is nick cavanaugh ( played by julian sands ) , talented surgeon who is getting obsessed by helena ( sherilyn fenn ) , beautiful woman who ditched him after brief affair . cavanaugh stalks her and uses every opportunity for the pathetic attempts to re-establish the relationship . during one of such occasions , helena is hit by a car , and nick quickly takes the role of her personal physician in order to have his way with her . after she wakes up , helena discovers not only that she is prisoner in cavanaugh's stylish residence , but also that cavanaugh amputated her legs in order to prevent her from escaping . she is still trying to escape , so cavanaugh takes off her arms . apart from casting sherilyn fenn ( audrey horne in twin peaks and small cameo in wild at heart ) and the use of twisted characters and their perverse fantasies , this film by ms . lynch hasn't got anything in common with the works of director's more talented father . despite rather bizarre subject , the style of this film is conventional and setting is light , characters are beautiful - but <NEG> the result at the end is quite sterile </NEG> and the film in the end <NEG> looks too artificial </NEG> for dark sexual fantasy it was supposed to portray . jennifer lynch <NEG> obviously lacks talents in directing and it becomes painfully obvious </NEG> in the scenes that are supposed to erotic - <NEG> its banal artificiality is even bellow the standards of playboy videos </NEG> . <NEG> the actors aren't good </NEG> either . julian sands is <NEG> terribly miscast </NEG> as emotionally disturbed man - this actors is best either when he plays charismatic protagonists or villains ; being neurotic doesn't suit him . bill paxton was better for this role , but <NEG> his presence was wasted in forgettable and unnecessary subplot </NEG> dealing with helena's boyfriend . sherilyn fenn contributed to this film mostly by her looks , but even the her greater effort in acting couldn't help this film . the screenplay , on the other hand , is <NEG> awful </NEG> , at least for someone who had made best-seller with laura palmer's diary - <NEG> the events in this movie are implausible </NEG> , characters come and go without purpose and many unnecessary subplots only slow down the film and add to the total confusion . one of those subplots involves character of cavanaugh's " regular " girlfriend , played by betsy clarke . the twist at the end , although unpredictable , is <NEG> unbelievable </NEG> and the viewers , who had the stomach to endure entire film , would <NEG> feel cheated </NEG> . all in all , boxing helena is <NEG> disorganised quasi-artistic mess </NEG> of a movie that should be remembered as nothing more than one of the wiser decisions in kim basinger's career .
