Maria Bello doesn't seem to care what people think of her choices in movie roles. Again she chooses a very difficult and not popular movie to star in. Maybe she needs those movies, to get off the sugar coated (aka "Hollywood") ones she does here and then (Coyote Ugly and of course Mummy 3).

While I think fails to achieve what it sets out to do (I won't spoil that),Maria Bello is as great as in her other independent/small movies she stars in. It's her performance that elevates this movie. This combined with the strange subject matter almost did the trick for me. But in the end (and even if I try to overlook some flaws, like bad pacing and dramaturgy),the movie is still too long

The question is, Is this film worth watching? Of course it is, if for nothing else but to see Maria Bello's Indy Award nominated performance. Don't let the fact that it went straight to video dissuade you.

It is not a pretty movie. Watching the effects of child sexual abuse never is. Watching someone engage in self-mutilation to mask the pain is, in a word, painful.

Bello (A History of Violence, The Cooler) was, of course, perfect for the role. Rufus Sewell played the husband, who was more of an enigma. It was never clear whether he was just a jerk who was obsessed with golf, or if 15 years of marriage to Nancy (Bello) just wore him down.

Nancy finds Louis (Jason Patric),someone on the Internet she wants to kill her. They end up having a relationship, if you want to call it that.

In the end, I am not sure whether he kills her or whether she kills herself. It really doesn't matter. It was a dark, twisted film with very little music and washed out cinematography. It set the mood, but it is easy to see why this film would get no buyers at Sundance.

People don't go to the movies to get more depressed, and this one will do just that.

The masochist housewife Nancy (Maria Bello) is a physically and psychologically destroyed woman. She had been so violently abused by her uncle since she was seven years old that she can not have babies anymore. She is ignored by her selfish husband Albert (Rufus Sewell),who does not have sex with her or give any attention to her problems, dedicating his leisure time to play a virtual golf game in a special room in their fancy house. The psychoanalyst Carol (Amy Brenneman) unsuccessfully tries to help Nancy to resolve her emotional issues with therapy. When Nancy contacts the sick sadomasochist Louis (Jason Patrick) in internet, she schedules a meeting with him in Baltimore to release her from her painful life. They meet each other and have kinky sex, but along the days together, Louis falls in love for Nancy and tries to persuade her to stay alive.

"Downloading Nancy" is a disturbing, powerful and heartbreaking movie with a story apparently based on a true event. Yesterday when I saw this film, I felt very uncomfortable with the dramatic story of Nancy, a woman destroyed by sexual abuses in the childhood and adolescence, and rejection and lack of love in her marriage. The gorgeous Maria Bello performing a character without any glamor gives a performance that should deserve a nomination to the Oscar, if this ridiculous institution were slightly honest and serious. Rufus Sewell is amazing in the role of a selfish man totally indifferent to the emotional problems of his needy wife. Jason Patrick is also excellent and there is one specific scene absolutely gruesome when he has sex with Nancy and a piece of glass. The non-linear screenplay makes the difference in this film, disclosing the drama of the lead character through flashbacks and intelligent dialogs. This mature movie is only recommended for very specific audiences and the DVD should have a warning in this regard. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Distúrbios do Prazer" ("Disturbs of the Pleasure")