What a confusing mess of a film. Not recommended.
Angelina Jolie is horrendously miscast as an FBI expert who is helping in a Canadian serial killer hunt. The director has tried to add interest to her superficial and unemotional character by sweeping shots of her eating/bathing alone, with nothing but pictures of victims to keep her company. We do not find out why she does this.
The "psychology" as to the killer's final motive is just as weak. No explanation is offered (as far as I recall; I may have dozed off) as to why the victims were mutilated. And when he's holed up in his mother's house - does his mother know? I chuckled at the Jolie-finds-secret-room-by-breeze-rustling-plant plot, which was lazily stolen from countless other films, e.g. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The romance scene with Jolie is laughable; it's about as sexy as a piece of damp cardboard, offering only to present the viewer with repeated images of her huge lips. These lips quickly become annoying during the progress of the film; I frequently found myself wondering whether her lips were designed to fit in 16:9 widescreen.
Kiefer Sutherland is utterly utterly wasted. He makes a comically brief appearance, adding nothing to the plot whatsoever. And in the scenes he does make an appearance, he can only be described as looking bored.
Oh - and the denouement. That has to be seen to be believed. Can anyone *begin* to explain this to me? Why, for heaven's sake, does Jolie take to living in a remote farmhouse, faking a pregnancy for 8 months, on the assumption that Hawke may be spying on her? Why not issue a manhunt for Hawke - let's face it, they have a pretty good indication of what he looks like.
Angelina Jolie is horrendously miscast as an FBI expert who is helping in a Canadian serial killer hunt. The director has tried to add interest to her superficial and unemotional character by sweeping shots of her eating/bathing alone, with nothing but pictures of victims to keep her company. We do not find out why she does this.
The "psychology" as to the killer's final motive is just as weak. No explanation is offered (as far as I recall; I may have dozed off) as to why the victims were mutilated. And when he's holed up in his mother's house - does his mother know? I chuckled at the Jolie-finds-secret-room-by-breeze-rustling-plant plot, which was lazily stolen from countless other films, e.g. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The romance scene with Jolie is laughable; it's about as sexy as a piece of damp cardboard, offering only to present the viewer with repeated images of her huge lips. These lips quickly become annoying during the progress of the film; I frequently found myself wondering whether her lips were designed to fit in 16:9 widescreen.
Kiefer Sutherland is utterly utterly wasted. He makes a comically brief appearance, adding nothing to the plot whatsoever. And in the scenes he does make an appearance, he can only be described as looking bored.
Oh - and the denouement. That has to be seen to be believed. Can anyone *begin* to explain this to me? Why, for heaven's sake, does Jolie take to living in a remote farmhouse, faking a pregnancy for 8 months, on the assumption that Hawke may be spying on her? Why not issue a manhunt for Hawke - let's face it, they have a pretty good indication of what he looks like.