Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman)
in a very disappointing effort. The plot just can't stick together and the dream sequences and reality get all mixed up and then the ending- completely unbelievable and too many co-incidences all through it.I thought the ending was part of his nightmare sequences as it was so outlandish in the basement of the perp's house, that just never made sense.The script was weak and it seemed like some South American countries got mixed up and Taylor's mother's Alzheimer's seemed like a contrivance to make the plot points fit.A waste of a decent cast in a film destined for the dustbin.2 out of 10.Disappointing.
jtownsle
If I rated films based solely on storyline, this would be a 1, but the competent acting and filming boost the rating. The high-profile cast made me presume the film would have a great story and would be a thrilling ride--who would doubt it, with Zane and Hopper as the male leads (I pictured the Phantom plus Speed, and throw in Helfer from Battlestar Galactica). At worst I assumed the complex intensity of Memento when I read about "flashbacks" and murder-mystery. However, at the halfway mark I had to double-check the film background to make sure it wasn't a Lifetime Channel movie of the week. There were a lot of chatty scenes where the characters make lame jokes and share pointless stories. The neuroscience references are, at the same time, too implausible and too banal to make this a good sci-fi, while the action scenes are too few, brief and dull to make this a good thriller. I hope this isn't a spoiler (since I didn't check the "spoiler" box for this review), but while you spend the first 20 minutes being drawn into a frame of "Alzheimer's researcher" who is "taking care of Alzheimer's loved one," making you think the story will do something with this strongly developed early thread, that thread suddenly disappears and is never mentioned again. Which is what should happen to this film...
jscanlan22
For a first time director / producer / writer team this is not a bad movie. It has its rough parts, it is not a polished as a production from a major studio or development group. But that is some of its charm.The story holds together throughout the movie and builds to a climax and letdown. The DVD extra features explain how long the process was to make this movie. The writer director story boarded the whole thing. The production values are very high for their budget. They shot what they needed and did not waste much time on extra footage.The plot twist at the end was somewhat confusing because of all the visuals that you had to catch to understand that the killer was not his father but his mother, and the person he thought was his mother was not. Once those concepts fall into place the ending becomes clear. This movie needs to be seen a couple of times to catch the subtle clues.This is not guerrilla film making - with a single set and some of the filming done on the cuff. A good example semi-guerrilla film making is the film by Darren Aronofsky in 2000 "Requium for a Dream": that cost $4.5 million 5 years ago. Aronofskys' first non-student movie was Pi in 1998. It was done in black and white for $60k in 1998.An interesting start of a career, lets see what they can bring us in the future.
mumblogger111
Got to see the movie b/c the director use to date my cousin. Even though that relationship didn't turn out well, the movie was still pretty damn good! I'm a big fan of Battlestar Galatica, and Trish Helfer is smoking hot! I'd been a big fan of her's since her Maxim spread, and YOU KNOW I bought last month's playboy too. Only knock is that for some stupid reason, she dies her hair jet black for this movie, but she's still smoking hot! And there's a strip poker scene too! So the movie starts out kind of crazy like a TV medical drama or csi or something. Some kid gets coked up on mysterious amazonian powder, turns him all red and crap, then ends up half dead in a hospital in Brazil. Then freaking Cal from Titanic shows up, Billy Zane, although his character's name is Taylor. So Cal/Taylor/Billy is a medical research dude trying to cure Parkinson's or whatever the name of that disease that kills little old ladies and presidents. He just happens to be in town for a swinging convention of Medical researchers and is an expert on amazonian powders or something. And Taylor's sidekick is the rolling stone publisher guy from Almost Famous (which is a bad ass movie). Terry Chen.So Taylor and his partner take some powder home for testing, but Taylor is a dumb mofo and accidentally gets some on his hands then back at the hotel he has some weird drug trip on the stuff and has a flashback of a serial killer. There's a really cool scene where Taylors' hotel bathroom explodes with water.OK, flash-forward to Six the sex robot; Trish Helfer's character meets Taylor when he goes back to Boston and attends an art show (evidently that's where the hot maxim chicks hang out). Eventually she becomes Taylor's hot sex robot too.Taylor keeps having these drug trips; sees serial killer; and then realizes it could be one of his parents; one of his parents memories; but his mom is in a coma or something and his dad is dead; so he doesn't know which one is a serial killer.Taylor investigates; Trish Six Helfer helps (actually is kind part of the serial killer's life); and in the end it all turns out to be some screwed up twisted discovery about Taylor's true identity. I mean that in a good way; a cool way! So if this flick ever sees a movie screen, I'd definitely recommend it. In fact, my cousin was probably pretty stupid from dumping the director guy b/c he'll probably be pretty rich. (I'm also betting she wrote the bad!bad!bad! review too.)peace... mumblogger111.
