Responses to this message:
I had VERY high expectations for this one - Fincher and Foster in the one film. And Ghost Dog. And for the most part those expectations were met, certainly DURING the film. It's only later when it unravels.
Unquestionably, Fincher is some sort of spatial genius. This film is worth admission just for the pullback shot from Foster's bedroom, along the floor, through the balustrade and then down into the lower levels of the 4 storey apartment and then left and right and up and down and...just brilliant. And the film oozes atmosphere, endless rain tumbles down outside throughout the one night in which the action takes place and shadows abound in the darkened apartment.
All well and good, but what about the plot? Well, it's cat and mouse. And then the cat becomes the mouse. And vice- versa. But it's all so conventional. As Raoul says to Ghost Dog at one point, "You know how this is going to end, don't you?" And that's the problem. You DO know. Fincher goes to great lengths to establish the field of play in the first half hour. There's only a finite number of ways that this puzzle can be solved. Having said that though, it's impossible not to be drawn into the film and to be carried along as Fincher ratchets up the tension towards the end. If only one couldn't see the cogs on the wheels!
Foster is fantastic. A believable, gutsy, smart action babe who runs around the house in a low-cut black tank-top (thanks Mr Fincher!) until she has to don a baggy top (boo!) near the end to conceal her RL pregnancy. Ghost Dog is excellent too, although his unwavering compassion wears towards the end - he's a thief for crying out loud! Let him be greedy! Jared Leto is cool, because he's Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam is a much better psycho than singer.
This is a good thriller. But it's nothing more than that. Good because the marriage of quality cast and exceptional director creates genuine tension. But nothing more because of the conventional nature of the script. And Fincher was MUCH nastier in Se7en.
3.5/5
Responses to this message:
Post a response to this discussion thread