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Reviews
The Hole (2001)
Promises much, delivers little.
If you have seen the trailers (or read some of the reviews), you would be forgiven of thinking of this film as a dark and disturbing thriller, unfortunately, this is not the case.
The acting is first rate from the leading five, though Embeth Davidtz, an experienced actress, is confined to a character with little scope for the talents she has displayed in previous films, and I find it disappointing that her acting skills were curtailed by such a restrictive screenplay.
And herein lies the main problem for this film. The characterisations are excellent, but the limited experience of the writers shines through. This film has none of the twists and turns you would expect from a thriller, an ending that is at once unconvincing, predictable, and weak, and plot holes you could drive a bus through.
Director, Nick Hamm, shows great promise as this film is very well put together, and he certainly gets the best from the main four actors. However he seems to have neglected the talents of everyone else in the film (bar Daniel Brocklebank as Martin).
In my opinion, this film was well acted and directed, if only the plot could have been better, we might have seen another classic British film. However I fear that this film will sink into obscurity. It seems a shame that such talent was not used on a film with better writers.
I await with anticipation Nick Hamm's next offering, and hope that he finds a screenplay to stretch both himself and the whole cast.
Fallen (1998)
little recognised classic
Denzel Washington gives a strong performance in this surprisingly little known gem from director Gregory Hoblit. A classic detective thriller with a demonic edge, this film managers to keep the suspense running until the very end. With one of the most dramatic and scary personal chase sequences ever brought to the big or small screen, this film has it all, including a strong cast (Donald Sutherland and John Goodman in a surprisingly convincing non-comedy role as Hobbes partner to name but a few.)
Now reduced to a cheap video rental, if you have a spare evening, watch this film. Some great lines, truly chilling storyline, and believable characters played by a superb cast, all add up to make this a movie well worth a look.