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Don't have much time to write a long review, but I thought I'd write a short post about this movie anyway...

I've got to admit, I wasn't drawn to it by all the hype I've heard about it on tv, but rather because there was nothing better that I hadn't already seen, and it looked vaguely interesting.

Well, to start, the movie was a bit slow off the mark. It took a while to get into the action, and it had the feeling of dragging along (in the beginning).

Then as it progressed, it became more and more enthralling, but somehow, I ended up feeling that something was missing. It had the feeling that there was a lot more work to be done, and it definitely had more potential. While Kate Blanchett made the movie worthwile for me (her acting was very good and very believable), Keanu Reeves also did a good job playing the crazed psycho .

So overall, I gave the movie a 7.5/10 What do you think?
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bigvalbowski's Avatar
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Didn't like it.

I can't believe that Billy Bob Thornton wrote this cliched piece of re-run horror mush. What happened to the guy who wrote Sling Blade? I blame Angelina Jolie.

The story is set in hillbilly central so obviously everyone is a crackpot or a lunatic, or even both. Cate Blanchett is a tarot reader and I think the film will be most successful for those people who pay money for such psychic readings because the film wholly believes in this tripe. The plot then concerns the death of Katie Holmes, the town slut, and a whodunnit ensues? Red herrings aplenty, a mistimed court case, and a worthless twist at the end finish off the story. It was very disappointing considering the cast and a director who's got a huge fan base.

Blanchett is excellent as usual, especially as a single mother and Reeves dominates the screen when he's on it. When will the critics realise Reeves is an extremely underrated talent? He's frightening here as an abusive husband. Libesi plays the requisite psycho, can he play anything else? Kinnear is one dimensional, Swank isn't given enough screen time and Holmes does herself no favours (Though perhaps she gave some teenage boys, myself included, a thrill near the end).

Mendes direction is laboured. He can shock us but it's run-of-the-mill horror stuff. There's nothing new, nothing original on display. It's my first Mendes film and it hasn't set my expectations for Spiderman any higher.

* (out of 4)
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