Post by Fickle81 on Nov 18, 2005 23:15:22 GMT -5
First of all,a big fuck you to Dimension films for not giving this a theater release opportunity and automatically sending it to direct to video hell.
Now that thats out of the way,this movie is fucking great...in my view,the second coming of Jacob's Ladder. The basic story is of a rich man named Simon (played by Ryan Phillippe,who without any doubt puts on the best show of his career) who wakes up in a hospital after being in a coma for 2 years,and as a result has amnesia. As he starts to remember his past and exactly who he is,he finds himself time traveling back and forth between the present and 2 year past difference.
Sounds familiar doesn't it? Like maybe The Butterfly Effect or Donnie Darko? While it definatly has elements of those two movies,the deeper you get into it,it leans more towards the already mentioned Jacob's Ladder. It has a very similar menacing atmosphere of confusion as you,like the main character Simon,have no earthly clue whats going on or whay he's time hopping back and forth.
The more I think about it and analyze it,this movie and its ideas are very similar to a film idea of mine I call The Endless Cycle. It deals with the exact same themes of regret and wanting to change the past (and what happens when you try to change it). In fact,its so similar and basically delivers the same message in such a similar fashion that I don't know that I'd ever want to write or make this movie idea of mine now that I've seen this. The only real differences between this movie and my idea is that this movie doesn't have the Silent Hill like monsters that my idea has,my idea doesn't have any real outdoor scenes,and my idea doesn't have the time travling element that this does. Even the ending (which is essencially 2 endings in one...you'll know what I mean when you see it) to this picture,while done in a slightly different way,it pretty damn similar to my idea's ending and pretty much delivers the same message.
There are some flaws to this movie,but I find them minor. Firstly,some might find the surreal elements of the film too regurgitated,as they are all found in the previous three films I've mentioned. However,I found the way these elements were used to be pretty fresh,so to me thats not really a flaw. The second flaw is that the main doctor in one of the time periods admits that he is only a pediatrician...so what the hell is he doing working in a hospital (pediatricians have their own little facility last I checked),how the hell does he know all the mental brain jargon of what Simon is going through,and how is he able to help patients with things like cat scans and what not? He also says that the hospital is really understaffed,so that kinda softens the blow a little. Finally,there is a really important subplot detail thats vital to one of the time periods thats pretty much swept under the rug and not directly mentioned or explored again. Although I have a theory about why this was done,its not completely concrete enough to overlook this flaw.
If you're a fan of any of the three surreal films that I've mentioned,you owe it to yourself to check this gem out. Also,see this to find out what kind of ideas yours truly had been brewing before learning about and seeing this movie. God knows it deserves some much needed praise after the horrible bastard treatment its gotten. When will film studios and companies learn that they really don't know what their audience wants and that they are not artists?
4.5/5
Now that thats out of the way,this movie is fucking great...in my view,the second coming of Jacob's Ladder. The basic story is of a rich man named Simon (played by Ryan Phillippe,who without any doubt puts on the best show of his career) who wakes up in a hospital after being in a coma for 2 years,and as a result has amnesia. As he starts to remember his past and exactly who he is,he finds himself time traveling back and forth between the present and 2 year past difference.
Sounds familiar doesn't it? Like maybe The Butterfly Effect or Donnie Darko? While it definatly has elements of those two movies,the deeper you get into it,it leans more towards the already mentioned Jacob's Ladder. It has a very similar menacing atmosphere of confusion as you,like the main character Simon,have no earthly clue whats going on or whay he's time hopping back and forth.
The more I think about it and analyze it,this movie and its ideas are very similar to a film idea of mine I call The Endless Cycle. It deals with the exact same themes of regret and wanting to change the past (and what happens when you try to change it). In fact,its so similar and basically delivers the same message in such a similar fashion that I don't know that I'd ever want to write or make this movie idea of mine now that I've seen this. The only real differences between this movie and my idea is that this movie doesn't have the Silent Hill like monsters that my idea has,my idea doesn't have any real outdoor scenes,and my idea doesn't have the time travling element that this does. Even the ending (which is essencially 2 endings in one...you'll know what I mean when you see it) to this picture,while done in a slightly different way,it pretty damn similar to my idea's ending and pretty much delivers the same message.
There are some flaws to this movie,but I find them minor. Firstly,some might find the surreal elements of the film too regurgitated,as they are all found in the previous three films I've mentioned. However,I found the way these elements were used to be pretty fresh,so to me thats not really a flaw. The second flaw is that the main doctor in one of the time periods admits that he is only a pediatrician...so what the hell is he doing working in a hospital (pediatricians have their own little facility last I checked),how the hell does he know all the mental brain jargon of what Simon is going through,and how is he able to help patients with things like cat scans and what not? He also says that the hospital is really understaffed,so that kinda softens the blow a little. Finally,there is a really important subplot detail thats vital to one of the time periods thats pretty much swept under the rug and not directly mentioned or explored again. Although I have a theory about why this was done,its not completely concrete enough to overlook this flaw.
If you're a fan of any of the three surreal films that I've mentioned,you owe it to yourself to check this gem out. Also,see this to find out what kind of ideas yours truly had been brewing before learning about and seeing this movie. God knows it deserves some much needed praise after the horrible bastard treatment its gotten. When will film studios and companies learn that they really don't know what their audience wants and that they are not artists?
4.5/5
