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We went expecting an vacuous MTV pic. We were pleasently surprised that it was rather good.
Whether
or not Ashton Kutchner can act is still a question but he definitely deserves praise for getting the script turned into a
film. It's infinitely more deserving of it than an awful lot of the trash that does make it into the cinema.
The beginning
when Ashton Kutcher's character, Evan, was losing bits of time was scary. Really scary, especially when he suddenly appears
with a knife out of nowhere.
Dear Eric Stoltz, you are the eternal winner of the only person scarier than Christopher
Walken award (trust me, he outfreaked him in The Prophecy). Go away. (Don't, you're a great actor, you just freak me out.)
Tommy
is the scariest child ever committed to celluloid. Especially in that scene in the cinema.
Random cameo from Callum
Keith Rennie. Nice surprises sometimes happen when you don't read the cast list too deeply. Of course Dad was the not so nice
surprise. And I love the way his apparently insane ramblings were explained later.
The child actors deserve much praise
because they were all very good in roles that must have been tricky to play.
The scene where we see Lenny now was scary
too. Brilliant performance by the actor in question (more on him later).
Loved Evan's first roommate. Who didn't cheer
at that scene in the bar? He also has a very good point. There was no way of knowing that Evan wouldn't end up more messed
up than he already was.
Fuckbag is the sort of word that would get someone's attention.
And at first Evan
wasn't more messed up, and the girl was fine. I love the idea of someone who was so not a frat boy trying to fit into one,
and scarily succeeding. Ah the corruption of being in a mob.
Unfortunately Tommy wasn't normal.
Liking the prison
scene, especially Evan's bunk mate. Evan was a sneaky little blighter with the whole stigmata scene. It does of course explain
why they showed the bit with the cigarette during his first trip back. I love it when the little pieces fit together.
The
people I went to see it with were quite shocked that oral sex even got a mention, and were worried that that scene would go
even further. I'm amazed that it went as far as it did, but had to refrain from saying that it only had a 15 certificate so
there would be no dicks on display.
Once again, woah at Lenny when he kills Tommy. Because you knew it, or something
else equally bad with Tommy killing someone, might come when Evan handed Lenny the big sharp thing but it was still shocking.
Amy
Smart as the girl Laura was fantastic. She actually got across how different Laura could turn out in all the possibilities.
In Ashton Kuchner's defence, his character's purpose was to be the same and be wierded out by the changes.
So again
he changes it, and again it turns out worse. For him anyway. Although I'm wondering if that scene was played for laughs or
if it just ended up that way. There were a few lines and scenes here and there that did do that.
I love Tommy as a
Jesus freak. There's something quite sweet about him. And Lenny is pretty cool too.
This is the little bit more about
the actor who plays Lenny. I've finally found the perfect Michael Morbius. I should explain, Michael Morbius is a character
from Spiderman. He is 'the living vampire' and in common with quite a few Spiderman bad guys is kind of sympathetic. Anyway,
with black hair, the guy that plays Lenny would be great.
The scene with the attempted suicide was another one of those
'is this supposed to be funny?' moments, although Tommy was once again, unspeakably sweet. And I do feel like telling Evan
that's it's incredibly difficult to drown yourself deliberately because you're body won't let you.
Another thing I
liked about this is that they let Evan be a flawed hero with a selfish streak. While his final push into changing this pretty
perfect reality, for everyone but him, was his mother, I think he would have done it anyway.
And of course it goes
spectacularly wrong. Which leads to one of 3 plot holes - how come he can do that with films? Just because his father can?
Then how come his father couldn't do it with, pictures say?
Then we get plot hole number 2 - how come just sending
Laura away makes Tommy all right? I suppose I will have to re-watch it to see if that's explained in the flash he gets as
he wakes up. And plot hole number 3 - how come his brain isn't reduced to mush after this jump? Especially as the doctor said
the jump before that his brain couldn't take much more rearrangement.
However if I get an ending featuring one of the
best Oasis songs that's both poigniant and touching, and it works, I am willing to forgive a lot. Of course the ending set
one of the girls I was watching off crying. The ending probably does deserve it. What can I say, I'm a sucker for someone
giving someone they love up to save them.
It does also lead me to the other thing I have to commend about the film
- at no point are there any technobabble explanations as to why. Since any explanation would obviously be wrong in some way,
the writers did the right thing in just glossing over it.
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