Rating of
2/4
This is suppose to be Steven King right?
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/03/08
Teacher "Johnny Smith's" (Christopher Walken) life is perfect. He loves his job, and loves his co-worker/girlfriend "Sarah" (Brooke Adams). However, he gets involved in an accident which puts him in a coma.
Five years later, "Smith" wakes in the hospital, and his life has changed. "Sarah" moved on, got married and is a full-time mom. And, "Smith" himself has gained psychic abilities which require him to touch the person he is reading.
On the road to recovery from the coma, "Smith" gains some local fame. Like other psychics, the local sheriff (Tom Skerritt) comes to him for any leads in a serial killer case that he can find with his ability. He also has other predictions, and helps save those involved.
However, things change when he crosses paths with a corrupt politician (Martin Sheen), and makes a decision to change his premonition about this man, who he sees in the Oval Office in one of his visions.
First of all, I have to say that I was surprised at how tame this movie is compared to other movies based upon horror legend, Steven King (isn't there a tradition where he makes a cameo in his movies? I didn't see him in this one, unless I wasn't paying attention to that scene he was in) novels. There is little to no violence, not much gore or anything jumping out scaring the audience and the character on screen. For a King story, this one is tame compared to the adaptations of "Cujo" and "Carrie". I do not read Steven King books, so I don't know how many of his stories are pretty tame for the horror genre compared to others.
There are basically three major stories in this movie revolving on "Smith's" visions. And, if you ask me, they are pretty much glanced over. The serial killer case, which easily could have been used for the plot where "Smith" goes after the killer himself, was wrapped up way too quickly in my opinion. The second one, which saves a child from an accident on a pond where he was to play a hockey game, was not barely expanded upon. And then there's the one with the politician, which gives a boost to the movie if you ask me.
Out of the entire movie, "Smith" was the best written, with "Sarah" a close second. "Sarah" does disappear a couple of times in this movie, but fate keeps her coming back into her former lover's life. I felt that all the others in the movie were not written well at all, and barely move the movie along.
Don't get me wrong, there is some blood in this movie, but it's really not a lot. There is some blood due to gun shot wounds. There is one scene, where the serial killer is found dead as he is cornered after "Smith" IDs him in a vision, which has the most blood in the entire movie.
I felt little to no chemistry between the cast in this movie. I also felt that the actors were given weak dialogue, and they weren't really believable in their roles. I felt the strongest performance came from Walken, who delivers his lines the same way in every movie.
I felt no suspense in this movie. Some of the visions "Smith" has are a bit hard to understand, and he has to explain to the audience (via his conversations with those he touches to see them) what they mean. Most of the problem in this movie was that the results of "Smith's" visions were rushed to an ending too fast, and had no time given them to be expanded upon.
The score was pretty forgettable in this movie. It wasn't used to enhance the pretty mild scares at all. I can't even remember when it was used to enhance any scare in this movie.
I would have to say that this movie should only be seen when you find it on HBO or another movie network only when there is nothing else on.
