Director: Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Match Point, Scoop)
Writer: Woody Allen
Producers: Stephen Tenenbaum, Gareth Wiley, Letty Aronson
Starring: Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor, Tom Wilkinson, Hayley Atwell, Sally Hawkins
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 108 min
Being not particularly much of a Woody Allen fan, I was completely blown away by his 2005 effort, Match Point. Following that was a dismal attempt at light-hearted romantic comedy in the way of Scoop. All but destroyed by critics, Allen returned to the drawing board to recreate what seems to work best for him: the Sunday evening thriller. Unfortunately you can tell that that is exactly what he attempted to do; recreate a success. But successes aren’t cloned, they’re meticulously crafted.
The film starts with Ian and Terry (McGregor and Farrell); two brothers on the edge of being successful if they could just clear a couple of financial hurdles. When those hurdles prove to be too big for either of them, they request the help of their rich uncle played by Tom Wilkinson. He agrees to help, but in return, he asks that they “get rid of” a traitorous informant to his business that will ruin him forever should the informant be allowed to testify. Reluctantly… very reluctantly, the brothers agree to the caper. From there, it’s planning and building the psychological strength to pull off the murder. But paranoia and fear, along with some small, unforseen obstacles that spring up along the way, keep the brothers from completing a simple task and turning it into a nightmare for both of them.
I did not follow much of the back story online and approached the monster movie with moderate excitement and very little hype. Surprisingly Matt Reeves’ first film in over a decade is far more deliberate than one would expect. Post-9/11 concerns run rampant as do certain issues regarding modern identity which are complemented by the various websites and Myspace pages that are essentially a part of the film. Of course the location is a given, as are the many scenes of crumbling skyscrapers. Manhattan is shown filled with people running away from clouds of smoke while coughing out their lungs, some scenes seemingly shot-by-shot remakes of the videos we all saw over and over again during the weeks following September 11th. The film’s headache-inducing (“Thank God it’s only 84 minutes long!”) cinéma vérité style is also certainly noteworthy. What better way to film a modern day sci-fi horror film, in New York no less, then with Youtube filming techniques and Myspace characters? Today our webpages and blogs are as much a part of our personas as our modes of dress or conversation. Perhaps I’m giving JJ Abrams & Co. too much credit, but so much of this film reeks of “now” it’s impossible to ignore.
(4.5/5)
Most of the movie is actually filmed in a documentary style. We see most of the action through the lens of these documentary film makers. We get an uproarious, introspection of a slasher villain and how he might go about setting up his home to be the perfect centerpiece for a slasher film. Windows are nailed shut, weapons are sabotaged and everything is planned out, down to the tiniest, minute detail. Getting certain kids to go down to the basement at just the right time and when to cut the power and so forth. We learn many of the tricks of the trade, so to speak, with even a brief explanation of some “industry jargon,” such as “survivor girl” and what an “ahab” is. There is also a code of ethics among these serial killers that must be adhered to and we are treated to a few of these ethical issues and discussions in a sit down interview with Vernon. The whole first hour is like watching a Diane Sawyer special on slasher villains and in this way is very amusing. Every bit of the film you’ll find yourself smiling and nodding your head with agreement and understanding. As the documentary goes on, we flash forward occasionally to “re-inactment” like footage of how the evening will go down; with teenagers running and screaming for their lives.
At just past the half-way point of the movie, the film evolves into more of a straight forward, narrative slasher movie as Vernon begins to set his plan in motion. The evolution is quick and obvious. The doc crew sets down their cameras and quite intentionally says, “The documentary is done. Let’s pack it up.” From then on, the movie turns into a straight-up horror movie, but with the audience’ knowledge of what is supposed to happen and who the villain truly is. Not in a superficial way either, but in a very human and personal way. Also, Robert Englund and Zelda Rubinstein (both legends in the genre) make brief but important cameos that will help to immortalize this film.
Director: Eric Leiser
reviewed by Andrew James
On the negative side, while I understand budgetary constraints and indie film makers not having access to all of the resources a major motion picture has, the actors involved leave more than a little to be desired. You can tell that they’re interested in what they’re doing, but it’s hard to take any of the live action moments very seriously when the actors are like cardboard cut-outs reading a script. It’s possible that this was the intention as some sort of metaphorical message about the real world not being as interesting as the imagined; but I kind of doubt it and if that is the case, it should’ve been more properly explained.
If that’s not enough to get your heart pumping, there are also a number of panel discussions with noted and award winning visual effects specialists. I’m seriously considering the panel discussion with George Borshukov who worked on the creation of bullet time for 
