Rating of
3/4
Noticeably Segmented
Franz Patrick - wrote on 11/16/08
Most people put this under the horror genre but this is a supernatural thriller more than anything. This film, directed by David Cronenberg, is smart because instead of avoiding the question of how will people react if they know about the main character’s ability to tell the future, it tackles the subject head-on and drives the story forward. I completely bought that Christopher Walken has the power of premonition because of his soft-spoken nature but knowledgeable (yet shifty) eyes. I also bought the romance between Walken and Brooke Adams because they had chemistry. My main problem with the film is that it feels like it’s divided into episodes: how the ability came about was part one, the murderer of the town was part two, the boy that was being tutored was part three, and the political figure played by Martin Sheen was part four. The only organic parts of the story that seemed to flow was Walken’s interactions with Adams and Herbert Lom, the doctor that took care of Walken while he was in a coma for five years. My other minor problem is that path that Walken’s character had taken in the end was very different from the character we got to know throughout the picture. Still, there’s a lot to recommend here such as solid acting from all the actors and a smart concept by Stephen King. This is a pretty solid “what if” movie that poses a lot of philosophical questions worth thinking about.
