This movie is BAD. I knew going in that it was going to be bad, but I enjoy a good cheesy thriller every now and then. Still, there are some points of badness that really pass the point of any redeeming value. It's a shame, because it had a great cast. Angelina is turning into one of those actresses that one likes in SPITE of her work. It's too bad she can't find something to take advantage of her uniqueness. But anyway.
The rest of this will be filled with COPIOUS SPOILERS, because we're going to pick the movie apart for the benefit of readers who have already seen it.
Oh dear, where to begin?
Let's begin with Ethan. I think it would have been MUCH more interesting to establish from the beginning (or about halfway through) that he was the killer (I mean intentionally. not just by making it so obvious to anyone who has seen a serial killer movie before, or, scratch that, anyone who has seen a MOVIE before). If you knew he was the killer they could develop this thing about WHY did he choose to put himself at the center of this investigation into his crimes? They could have played it off that he picked Angelina beforehand to manipulate. That would have been interesting. As it stands, once it's revealed that he's the killer, the whole entirety of his performance up til that point doesn't make any sense, and misses so many of the intriguing possibilities described above.
This is one of those movies where it seems the writer and director just hope you won't think too hard (or at all) about what happened before the moment unfolding on screen.
There was zero chemistry between Angelina and Ethan. They set up Angelina as this cool and confident FBI agent who's seen it all. why would she fall for this whiny loser artist? Her supposedly falling for him had 'Plot Twist' written all over it, because it betrayed the character, and the audience who had built up good feeling for her in spite of the screenplay. I also resented how she turned into such a broken shell of a woman after the 'shock' of Ethan being the killer was 'revealed.' Come on, the script had built her up as much more psychologically solid than that. If there had been the slightest heat between her and Ethan, we might have believed that her overwhelming passion 'clouded her judgment,' which is what I think we're supposed to believe, but it just fails spectacularly and ends up p**sing the audience off.
And while I don't want to be overly PC, there is really NO excuse for Angelina to say that it's OKAY for another (male) detective to HIT her (hard, too), especially when the reason he's hitting her is for being a weak woman who let her emotions cloud her judgment. I blame Angelina personally for that one, because she should have said 'No WAY am I shooting that.' It would be another thing if it added ANYTHING to the movie. Grrrr..
Ah, what else? I really enjoyed Keifer's 3.7 seconds of screen time.
I LOVED how the detective who is supposedly protecting Ethan--who is being shuttled out of the city because he's in so much danger--leaves him alone in the apartment for like five minutes (while one of the numerous red herrings of course shows up and attacks him) while he just waits outside by the car. Later a character says what a shame it is that a good cop like him got killed, and I was like, 'Good cop my ass! That doofus deserved it!'
And the whole thing about Angelina lying in the grave goes absolutely nowhere.
And who did that guy under the bed turn out to be? Did I miss the cursory explanation?
Someone just needs to issue a moratorium on generic serial killer movies with pointless plot twists for the sake of having plot twists. This is one of those movies with so many pointless twists and so many deliberate deceptions of the audience that eventually you just start to resent it. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a good old cheesy serial killer movie, like The Bone Collector, which was equally ridiculous, but in a fun way. but this one shows contempt of its audience and just pisses me off. Do these films make enough money anymore that they really still need to be made? I guess there has to be SOMETHING to show on airplanes.
And Angelina, seriously, drop me a line and I will WRITE you a script. In the meantime, you know dear, if you can imagine Ashley Judd being in it just as easily as yourself, maybe it's time to steer clear.
Oh, oh dear.
--- Check out website devoted to bad and cheesy movies: www.cinemademerde.com
The rest of this will be filled with COPIOUS SPOILERS, because we're going to pick the movie apart for the benefit of readers who have already seen it.
Oh dear, where to begin?
Let's begin with Ethan. I think it would have been MUCH more interesting to establish from the beginning (or about halfway through) that he was the killer (I mean intentionally. not just by making it so obvious to anyone who has seen a serial killer movie before, or, scratch that, anyone who has seen a MOVIE before). If you knew he was the killer they could develop this thing about WHY did he choose to put himself at the center of this investigation into his crimes? They could have played it off that he picked Angelina beforehand to manipulate. That would have been interesting. As it stands, once it's revealed that he's the killer, the whole entirety of his performance up til that point doesn't make any sense, and misses so many of the intriguing possibilities described above.
This is one of those movies where it seems the writer and director just hope you won't think too hard (or at all) about what happened before the moment unfolding on screen.
There was zero chemistry between Angelina and Ethan. They set up Angelina as this cool and confident FBI agent who's seen it all. why would she fall for this whiny loser artist? Her supposedly falling for him had 'Plot Twist' written all over it, because it betrayed the character, and the audience who had built up good feeling for her in spite of the screenplay. I also resented how she turned into such a broken shell of a woman after the 'shock' of Ethan being the killer was 'revealed.' Come on, the script had built her up as much more psychologically solid than that. If there had been the slightest heat between her and Ethan, we might have believed that her overwhelming passion 'clouded her judgment,' which is what I think we're supposed to believe, but it just fails spectacularly and ends up p**sing the audience off.
And while I don't want to be overly PC, there is really NO excuse for Angelina to say that it's OKAY for another (male) detective to HIT her (hard, too), especially when the reason he's hitting her is for being a weak woman who let her emotions cloud her judgment. I blame Angelina personally for that one, because she should have said 'No WAY am I shooting that.' It would be another thing if it added ANYTHING to the movie. Grrrr..
Ah, what else? I really enjoyed Keifer's 3.7 seconds of screen time.
I LOVED how the detective who is supposedly protecting Ethan--who is being shuttled out of the city because he's in so much danger--leaves him alone in the apartment for like five minutes (while one of the numerous red herrings of course shows up and attacks him) while he just waits outside by the car. Later a character says what a shame it is that a good cop like him got killed, and I was like, 'Good cop my ass! That doofus deserved it!'
And the whole thing about Angelina lying in the grave goes absolutely nowhere.
And who did that guy under the bed turn out to be? Did I miss the cursory explanation?
Someone just needs to issue a moratorium on generic serial killer movies with pointless plot twists for the sake of having plot twists. This is one of those movies with so many pointless twists and so many deliberate deceptions of the audience that eventually you just start to resent it. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a good old cheesy serial killer movie, like The Bone Collector, which was equally ridiculous, but in a fun way. but this one shows contempt of its audience and just pisses me off. Do these films make enough money anymore that they really still need to be made? I guess there has to be SOMETHING to show on airplanes.
And Angelina, seriously, drop me a line and I will WRITE you a script. In the meantime, you know dear, if you can imagine Ashley Judd being in it just as easily as yourself, maybe it's time to steer clear.
Oh, oh dear.
--- Check out website devoted to bad and cheesy movies: www.cinemademerde.com