★ 8 / 10
Seen this movie a handful of times over
JPV852
Seen this movie a handful of times over the years, and still holds up so well. A solid thriller with fine performances by Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks…
Seen this movie a handful of times over the years, and still holds up so well. A solid thriller with fine performances by Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, and features a great supporting cast in small parts (seems about 5 min. each), including Liam Neeson, Daniel Stern (wish he'd do more straight dramas), Brian Dennehy (RIP) and Olivia Wilde. Some nice suspense-filled moments throughout (the bump key scene still gets me).
However, the final scene with detective "seeing" how the crime went down seemed like something the studio wanted to give a clear conclusion, and felt so unnecessary. **4.0/5**
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★ 1 / 10
If Paul Haggis is going to keep on
TheCakerBaker
If Paul Haggis is going to keep on making movies, would somebody do us all a favor and sign him up for a basic screenwriting class? I mean, please, this film…
If Paul Haggis is going to keep on making movies, would somebody do us all a favor and sign him up for a basic screenwriting class? I mean, please, this film could be a lesson all on its own on how not to write a decent screenplay. Its all in here: one-dimensional characters, supremely poor pacing, multiple threads that go absolutely nowhere and completely implausible action sequences.
And, you know, it's just a B-thriller. It's not like I haven't seen these mistakes time and time again. What really bothers me is just how highly it thinks of itself. It not only thinks it's interesting (which it isn't whatsoever), but it thinks it's smart, edgy, and it probably even thinks it's clever. I mean, there are so many characters who function for exactly one plot point and are then left behind in the dust. For example, this one chick who's name I forget (did they ever even say her name?) is introduced fairly early on in the film, and looks even like Russell Crowe's love interest. We see the very, very beginnings of a meaningful relationship forming and then it turns out that she was only a device to fill in a little potential plot hole (trying not to spoil the movie.) The same with Russell Crowe's parents, there are a handful of scattered scenes with them showing little glimpses of a meaningful relationship, and then the same exact friggin' thing is done, they're used as a simple (and illogical) plot mechanism.
It's almost like one of Paul Haggis's friends was reading the script and said "hey, Paul, this is completely ridiculous, how could they possibly manage to _________" and Haggis wrote in these characters as devices to satisfy the issue, realized they were one-dimensional, and wrote in a pseudo-intelligent relationship (which doesn't in reality make them any better.) And this is how the first 2/3 of the movie moves so dreadfully slowly. I mean, I'm absolutely confident that with a decent editor, the first hour and fifteen minutes could be whittled down to maybe half an hour.
They could have especially left out the symbols that don't actually symbolize anything. Which seems silly to say, but the jar of quarters that keeps recurring in the movie not only has no plot significance, but has zero metaphorical significance. They barely explained what they were doing in their house. They were quite literally only in the film to make it look a little deeper. Not to make it more meaningful, but to make it look more meaningful. To make it "smart," and "edgy," and "clever." I don't usually have a problem with making it through a movie but I had to push to make it through this ludicrous, self-righteous mess.
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★ 8 / 10
An exhilarating edge of the seat thriller.
theycallmemrglass
Just saw this at a London preview screening. I have not seen the original that this is apparently a remake of so I cannot compare. What I can say is that this…
Just saw this at a London preview screening.
I have not seen the original that this is apparently a remake of so I cannot compare. What I can say is that this movie was deftly directed with a perfect pacing that smoothly shifts through each gear from 1 to full throttle. It starts off with the necessary slow exposition, transitioning to a heartfelt family crisis drama and crime thriller with the tension slowly cranking up to a breakneck speed when I was literally holding my breath in the compelling edge of the seat finale.
What I admire most about this film is the smooth kinetic flow from scene to scene. There didn't seem to be any implausible leap in logic apart from maybe towards the end but everything just connects together so well. All of the actors were superb in their roles. As for Russel Crowe, well I can't think of many actors who expresses wordless undying love better than he can. He is simply a master of it and you just cant help root for him even if he makes or contemplates morally wrong decisions. His character is beautifully played with all the invulnerability, weaknesses and stubborn obsession he possesses.
The supporting actors were all excellent in the little screen time that they each get. And there is even a brilliant cameo by a well known Irish actor (shant spoil who it is for you) that sparked up the screen briefly in an instrumental role to the plot. The great Brian Denhhey also has a few minutes on screen time as Crowes father, hardly uttering a word but you just know exactly what is going on in his mind and it is absolutely touching.
So in summary, this is a top thriller with an exhilarating edge of the seat 3rd act, enriched by beautifully touching moments and thick underlying subtext of undying love.
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50%
TOMATOMETER
· 168 reviews
66%
AUDIENCE
· 50K ratings
7.3/10
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4k please