Plot Outline:

The beautiful fugitive, Grace (Nicole Kidman), arrives in the isolated township of Dogville on the run from a team of gangsters. With some encouragement from Tom (Paul Bettany), the self-appointed town spokesman, the little community agrees to hide her and in return, Grace agrees to work for them. However, when a search sets in, the people of Dogville demand a better deal in exchange for the risk of harboring poor Grace and she learns the hard way that in this town, goodness is relative. But Grace has a secret and it is a dangerous one. Dogville may regret it ever began to bare its teeth...Source

Dogville by experimental director and writer Lars von Trier has been said to be anti-American but to me it's primarily about iconically named Tom Edison (played by Paul Bettany) and his alter-ego, aptly named Grace Margaret Mulligan (played by Nicole Kidman in another adept performance) and his ultimate fall from "grace". It could take place in any small town in any country in desperate conditions.

Grace is a forgiving type, too forgiving. As the townspeople get more scared of the situation (or maybe they were just rationalizing being bastards), she's treated worse and worse - it's heartbreaking really. Tom has intellectualized his way out of admitting that although he's probably the most moral and decent person in the town, when the going gets too rough Tom turns into the same despicably scared and spineless exploiter. I found myself enraged at times that Tom let so much happen to Grace when he was the only one that could have done something. But social pressure and his own fear paralyzed him while he intellectualized it all and remained a decent person in his own mind. Ultimately Tom falls from "grace" within himself by revealing that his true nature isn't so lofty and that evil can be done by inaction as much as by action.

This is the best Kidman performance I've seen since To Die For and she is, along with Judy Davis, among Australia's greatest female actors. The rest of the cast is also first rate and the experimental setup (like an avant garde play) was easy to get into - some people were put off by it but the incredible performances and atmosphere made me forget about the format completely. You create the scenery yourself, so actual scenery isn't needed but the artificiality could be distracting to some - but I loved it. Three hours wasn't long enough and like a good novel I dreaded it ending!

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