SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain Representing schizophrenia on film is almost impossible. As is any mental illness. It's the job of the actors and directors to capture the essence of the disease. Kerrigan gives us one of the greatest studies in mental illness. He manages to dispel the myths of such diseases, by representing the protagonist as dangerous, but no more so than a "sane" person. Peter causes the most harm to himself, as his paranoia inspires acts of self- mutilation. Kerrigan takes a generic, cop looking for killer plot, but gradually subverts the genre. The sound design is also incredible, creating a confused and hectic mind, like a radio trying to tune in. It isn't your average film, and so requires patience and an open mind.

sensibleman I don't think this movie tried to tell a story and gave a message to audiences. It just focuses on a story of a men in a short period of time and movie is far far away from telling us whats really going on. So i think maybe it doesn't tell anything to us, because there is nothing interesting to tell and it is not worth telling. So maybe director choose to tell nothing., because he knows that if he try to tell the story with details, it is only going to be worser. And because it is not a pop corn movie or it is not a movie you can watch without taking a breath till the end, it only wastes your time and gives nothing at the end. You can get bored especially when movie is close to end. Two things i like about this movie are the main actor of the movie and the beginning of the movie. I don't advice you to watch this movie. Especially if you aren't a huge movie lover.

Scott-212 It took me a few viewing to get into this movie, and my biggest gripe was that the film left the issue of Peter's involvement in a rather disturbing murder unanswered. *SPOILER! Don't read any further unless you've seen the movie* The little girl is murdered at some point when Peter is staying at the hotel. It shows him lying in bed looking up at the ceiling, abruptly cutting to a shot of an unseen assailant beating the girl to death. This seems to imply Peter was involved, however right after this there is a scene where Peter hears, outside his hotel room, the sound of people laughing. Since it is established that Peter constantly hears strange noises, you don't know if this is real or not.Prior to all this is a scene where an older woman (mother or sister) is cross with the girl, threatening to hurt her. Later, when McNally is questioning the maintenance guy over the phone, the guy is not the least bit disturbed he found the battered body of a child, but rather complains to McNally that she smelled so bad he couldn't continue working. In the last few minutes, McNally is seen on the phone saying "Inconclusive?". I took from this part he was talking to his department and they were telling him there was not enough evidence to connect Peter with the murder, thus his findings were inconclusive. In the next scene, McNally is back in the bar, and sitting nearby is a man and woman. The woman is upset, crying, and the man tells her she's like a broken record. I think these two are the angry woman and maintenance guy from the hotel, and that they were the killers, since earlier in the film it was established neither have any real regard for the dead girl. It is a quick shot, almost a throwaway, but look for it the next time you watch the film. Peter's possible guilt as a child killer / abuser is also implied when he beats the girl in the city for accidentally bumping his car. The beating is never seen, only heard, and right after Peter drives away from this there are people on the sidewalk who don't act like they've just seen a man beat up a small girl. This leads me to think this whole incident was in Peter's mind. Anyway, just my two cents. Thanks for reading. Hope I'm not just repeating stuff Lodge Kerrigan says in the commentary, I've not yet seen the DVD. Scott

cicerobuck Allright, it's not in the same category as Preminger, Lang, Ford or Reed, but still, this is an incredible use of sound, music, actors and minimalist camera action... If Bresson was American, he would maybe not even top that! The only movie that stands comparison to this one would in my opinion be Philip Ridley's The Mirror. Try to see it in a movie- theatre, then buy the tape or the DVD... Just watch the scene when the cop realizes he had it all wrong, the final ghostly scene with the daughter and the radio, the scene between Peter Greene (could it get better? maybe not even William Fichtner!) and his mother at the table. So much, so much... Clare Dolan (Kerrigan's second film) was great (opening credit sequence!), but maybe less scary.