JakeStevens Blog

When Edward Norton first starts speaking in an English accent, I thought "great, that's all I'm going to listen for...him messing up an accent." I soon forgot all about that as the story and characters are so gripping that you soon become entangled in their situation. FANTASTIC cinematography throughout and a wonderfully understated score round out this film. My only gripe is that it is ANOTHER remake of a film classic, but in fairness, it's adapted from a novel, so I suppose that fact makes it fair game. All in all, a wonderful cinematic experience.

Yikes. This film starts off all whimsical and lightly comedic (depending on your definition of comedy), and perhaps with a theater full of people, this type of humor might have worked better. But sitting at home, it fell flat and felt false. Things start to get better, and the actors all seem into their parts, but it's the ending that killed then entire film for me. *SPOILER ALERT* When Jones exacts revenge on all those people at the beginning of the film that "do him wrong", it just feels contrived and silly *END SPOILER*. Sorry, folks, I like to give cute little indies a chance, but this one just left me feeling disappointed.

I've never really cared for Aaron Eckhart's acting - his actions ring false to me, and that seems to be the central motif of this film - a false ringing. Nobody seems to really be "into" this film, and as a result, it's like watching, perhaps not a bad play, but maybe a well-acted high school play. The cinematography is, at times, breathtaking, but it's very soft and glittery for a film that I don't think deserved that kind of treatment. Brittany Murphy scares me - even when she's supposed to be a romantic lead, she still looks crazy in the eyes to me. I'm sure first time director/writer Joshua Michael Stern was thrilled when he got the opportunity to direct his first major motion picture with a seemingly star-studded cast, but the actors seemed to be working for a paycheck here, even the wonderful Ian McKellen, whose work in other independent films in most of the time magnificent, but here is just a little too over the top. And if the actors aren't connecting with the script, how can the audience? I found myself bored and uninterested in Eckhart's revelations at the end, and then credits roll. Not the best film watching experience.