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Lurid, prurient, melodramatic, yet despite its flaws a good movie. Prissy Natalie Portman is well cast as mummy's girl ballerina competing for the lead, and although there are schlock horror LOL moments, especially our heroine learning to masturbate (Portman seems too perfect to do this sort of thing, that's the point), it's a coming of age story you see, and Vincent Cassell doesn't convince as the svengali like maestro trying to push her to sprout wings, it's not a good ad for putting your kid in ballet school.