Well...where to begin...

I guess I'll start by saying that there are glimpses of a good movie, a good concept, and even a good script, but for the most part, things are a mess.

This is a Canadian movie with a nice $15 Million budget and the star power of the beautiful Milla Jojovich.  It's a hybrid thriller/mystery with some slasher/horror undertones.

I actually gave it 3 stars but that's only because it has potential and looks pretty good.  I hate giving decent movies only 2 stars, as that seems like a very negative rating, but 2 1/2 stars seems like where it should be rated.

The details.  I don't like giving things away, so I'll just say that Milla's character hurts herself and suffers from a rare brain disease in which she can't remember or differentiate faces - even of those she knows very well.  There is real  potential here and it actually seems to be a fresh idea.  I bet the script worked better than the finished product and I can see why it was picked up and why $15 Million were thrown at it.

There are plot holes galore, though.  Wide, gaping ones, most noticeable, the identity of the Antag.  Just rather foolish that this person would first of all be a serial killer, and secondly, act like he or she does throughout the movie.  But, hey, movies like this often work out this way, so...

Acting is pretty piss poor, IMO.  Milla does not bring her A game, but then again, has she ever?  The rest of the cast are equally poor.

FX are OK, but nothing remotely great and the actual look of the film isn't great, as in I'm not sure where the $15 Million went, but it does look like a real movie and I could see how this was most likely planned on being a wide screen theatrical release.

The real big issues I had was that it was just about impossible to stay up with things, who's who, who's doing what, and why.  You see, the makers behind this decided to show us exactly what Milla was seeing, and by that I mean many different actors play a single character, and as it goes on, it just gets way too jumbled and many of these actors look very much alike.  I think a better strategy would be to have the actor remain in the role, but show Mila's POV, seeing a different face, as opposed to literally having that "new" actor in the scene, interacting with Milla and everyone else.

Missed opportunity, IMO, but still not a terrible way to spend an hour and a half.  It is an interesting idea and these kind of flicks really help me analyze what works and what doesn't work in film.

It's a revamp of Memento. I think it's catered to females than males. For instance, the love making scene she has. lol.  

Quoted from Mr.Ripley It's a revamp of Memento. I think it's catered to females than males. For instance, the love making scene she has. lol.

I don't see any relation to Memento, Gabe.

Both receive head injury.
Loss of short term memory - Loss of recognizing a face.
The trauma it causes them.
they can't find the person who did this to them.  

Just that memory is cheaper.

Well, I guess so, Gabe.  I never thought of it that way, but there are similarities, now that you put it that way.

Sorry.

What did you think of the movie?

Glad didn't buy the dvd. It's a good netflix film. You can watch and move on.  

SPOILERS!

The fact that Milla still questions why she can still see Julian McMahon the same way makes me laugh. It's mind blowing how  the writers couldn't have them engage in a romantic relationship. However, she still stays with the boyfriend who changes with the blink of an eye to any man that Milla wants.  

END OF SPOILERS!!

I think the physical changes they gave to Julian McMahon (mustache, hair cut, body fat) didn't work for him in the movie.

They were really trying to sell this movie based on the face blindness as if this was never done before. However, I think it would have been better giving her a memory condition. Would have saved a lot of money. Milla doesn't come cheap.

Acting wise, it was passable. Julian did a bit better.

I commend them for trying to attempt something new but I think it could have been better going with the memory condition.

Gabe

Glad you mentioned this, Jeff, as I hadn't heard of it.  Checked it out today while on break and was mildly entertained.

My thoughts would be pretty much in keeping with those above.  It looks pretty good, there are some major story problems, but it's not a bad way to spend your time at all.  It was, at least, interesting.  The premise was the best part of the film and it woulda been cool to see it get better treatment, though.

Still, nothing wrong with trying something new and failing.  Personally, I liked the approach with various actors for the same character.  I thought that was good fun and was only confused, very briefly, one or two times.  

SPOILERS

As a serial killer flick, it didn't have much bite.  Nothing particularly interesting or scary about the antagonist, and once the identity was revealed, the requisite insane ranting was pretty lame.

END SPOILERS

Oh and her friends were pretty high on the annoying dumbass scale.

This film in a word... sleepy.

I found the flick mildly irksome, but I made it to the end.
The serial killer indeed felt very Movie of the Week to me.
And I never felt the tension kick in due to the actor cavalcade.
The device incited confusion for me, not tension.
Which only sheds more light on the film's faults.
So, I guess the lesson here is...

Disorientation does not equal suspense.
Maybe if the condition was exacerbated by stress...
Then when she panics, suddenly she's at even a worse disadvantage.
Perhaps something like that would've been a better way to go.

E.D.

As I just posted under The Pack, it's great to see some peeps chiming in with their thoughts on movies like this, that go for the most part, unnoticed.  It always surprises me when I come across a DTV (or whatever you want to call a non theatrically released production) like this with a solid budget and some kind of star power.

I want to comment on the ever changing actors playing the core roles.  I agree that credit should be given for attempting something like this.  It was a bold move and in many ways, I actually thought it was pretty cool, but on the flip side, it worked against the movie working, as I just couldn't relate to anyone, and therefor, didn't feel invested in their outcomes.

This could have and should have been more than it was, and it always surprises me to see so many examples of missed opportunities that are most likely occurring at the decision maker level, like the Producers, or money men.

Oh well, we live and learn and that's always what counts...for me, at least.

Quoted from Dreamscale This could have and should have been more than it was, and it always surprises me to see so many examples of missed opportunities that are most likely occurring at the decision maker level, like the Producers, or money men.

Hmm, I'm interested in this.  For those who've seen this one, I'm curious...would you be able to attribute blame to some specific people for the unrealized potential in this film?  Was it the writer/director who didn't do as good a job as he could have?  Did the producers monkey with it?  Did the financiers screw things up?  

Of course there's no way to know, but I'd be interested to hear opinions.  I'm not sure, but I think I'd actually place a lot of blame on the director/editor.  For me, one of the significant problems in the film was that it didn't seem to spend the time building tension in the places it needed to, or really punching up the sequences that needed it.  An example of this would be

SPOILERS

the murder of the red-haired friend right after Milla makes out with the killer.  This whole sequence was probably pretty awesome in the script, but in the film, there seemed to be little attempt to really build this into the important sequence that it was...its treatment, cinematographically, editorially, etc, seemed no different than many of the smaller suspense scenes.  

END SPOILERS

But anyway, yeah, anyone have thoughts on this?

EDIT:  I forgot to say, how AWESOME was it to see the great Marianne Faithfull, of all people?!  That was unexpected.

Chris, it's impossible to say, as you mentioned.

Since we haven't seen the script, it's definitely impossible to say, but I will say this anyways...

First of all, I do see how this concept would come across as intriguing to a Producer, so I can see why the script was garnered interest.  Keep in mind the Director here is also the writer.  An additional writing credit was given as "script consultant", but what I'm saying is that this is the Director's vison here for sure.

But, in that same breath, I see many, and I mean MANY holes in the plot that should not have made it to the final filmed version.  No excuse for that.

But more importantly, I'm just surprised that a $15 Million "little" movie couldn't look better and be more than it turned out to be.  Milla has star power and I'm sure she can demand good money, but she was given her Executive Producer credit on this film - I don't know exactly what that means in terms of money going her way or any additional requirements asked of her, but this kind of thing is often the way to attract high B or low A level talent to a lesser production.