So what was it like to act in a disturbing and erotic drama like "Downloading Nancy"?

"It was a dream come true," actress Maria Bello told the crowd at Monday afternoon's debut screening at the Racquet Club Theatre, "because I always wanted to do a romantic comedy."

Seriously, director Johan Renck said the movie -- in which Bello's character flees a loveless marriage (to Rufus Sewell) for rough sex with a man (Jason Patric) she met on the Internet -- is about the price one pays to maintain a relationship.

As for the disturbing content, Renck said, "You have to push certain buttons to get that message across in the right way, I suppose."

Bello agreed: "I think that movies should be disturbing and thought-provoking and raw and open something in you."

-- Sean P. Means