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Phoenix


Possible Spoilers

The beginning when they go over the border seemed like a strange scene to me. Not a bad one because it succeeded at getting me interested right away, but there just seemed to be something off about it. Something about the American character or actor or his behavior, I'm not really sure. I'm not even sure why I'm mentioning it because it's more of an afterthought now, but at the time, even though it gained my interest, it had me wondering about the quality of the movie going forward.

It's a pretty simple story and it was wise to keep the runtime at what it was. If this were two hours it could have been a drag. The coldness and tragedy of it all is established early on well before we get into the mystery aspect, although I knew Johnny was the key to the story by her friend's response to her question about him. At first I had a hard time believing he wouldn't know it was her, even telling my wife that I would know her with a completely different head on her body. Then the realization sets in that she's a completely different person, and I felt a little silly for not knowing this right away. I still wondered how likely it was, but I don't have to believe it's likely, I just have to believe it's possible. She obviously walked different, probably due to emotional trauma, and she seemed to me to be conscious of it. I wondered about her voice the most. There were questions I had that weren't answered that I'm glad weren't answered. Did a part of her want him to know? Did she want to resume the relationship? How suspicious was he? Was he even a bad guy?

I thought it was a solid movie in every way and I have no real complaints. I feel like it could have easily gone full thriller mode and I would have loved it. It's just not that kind of movie. I did love the way it ended, and it was a smart move considering that song can be so powerful in it's own way. That's the only scene that will stand out in my memory and that's the reason I liked it but didn't love it.

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