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MPAA RATING: R for frightening sequences and violence
Starring Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Irving, Dylan Baker, Melissa Leo, and Robert John Burke
A widower (DeNiro) suspects his 9 year-old daughter (Fanning) has come up with an unexpected way of dealing with her mother's death through a terrifying "imaginary" friend.
| GENRE(S): | Drama | Horror | Suspense/Thriller |
| WRITTEN BY: | Ari Schlossberg |
| DIRECTED BY: | John Polson |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 5, 2005 Video: July 5, 2005 Theatrical: January 28, 2005 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 105 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 5.9 (out of 10) based on 38 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jess P. gave it a9:
I thought it was really good and it was jumpy and very twisted!!
Alma L. gave it a10:
Just Great!!!
Brian K. gave it an8:
Ethan, don't worry what Sam says about you never being a friend of Dakota's. Dakota is very open to her fans. In one rare moment, I was able to visit with her for 25 minutes before she had to leave. I even got a hug out of it at the end, which she gave without hesitation. Anyway, I only saw the movie because Dakota was in it. Yes, the plot is borrowed, yes the story is weak in some areas, but Fanning is nothing less than hypnotic--pure magic.
Mark B. gave it a3:
Little Dakota Fanning has got to be not only the most well-adjusted child actress in Hollywood history, but the most emotionally healthy and stable youngster in America PERIOD. Not only did she spend 90% of her screen time in War of the Worlds screaming at and running from Martians, but earlier this year was dealing with parental death, psychotic imaginary playmates and 87 other varieties of childhood trauma (to say nothing of having to look and dress like The Addams Family's Wednesday, only with brown sweaters instead of black dresses) in this derivative, mean-spirited horror movie frrom the director of Swimfan. (I'm sure Orson Welles never had a #1 box office weekend as a director, but this hack gets two different ones. Is there no justice in this world or what?) The usual array of pseudo-ominous tracking shots and cheeseball false alarms is made even more predictable by the fact that two of Robert DeNiro's lovely, talented costars, Elisabeth Shue and Amy Irving, are former Oscar nominees who've clearly seen better days, which gives you an idea of the thanklessness of their roles AND the relative length of their screen time. (Melissa Leo, of TV's acclaimed Homicide: Life on the Streets, also turns up, giving a performance that's both creepy and touching...and way too good for this.) Chances are you'll alternate yor viewing time between exclamations of "Man, those filmmakers are sick puppies!" and "Just how stupid do they think we are?" A couple of rather original jolts (such as Dakota's flip-movie book) make this vaguely better than DeNiro's last horror outing, the rock-bottom Godsend...but that's like saying that sawing your thumb and forefinger off in a workshop accident is preferable to losing your whole hand. And by the way, remember when DeNiro's appearance in a non-Scorsese film was a virtual guarantee that you were STILL going to see something terrific--be it an ambitious epic like The Mission, a guest turn in The Untouchables or even a purely commercial action-comedy like Midnight Run? The (hopefully not) late, lamented IFC game show Ultimate Film fanatic had a trivia category last year entitled "DeNiro: The Sellout Years"; if the writers of that category had known at the time of this and Godsend, they might well have altered the title to "DeNiro: The Whorehouse Years"!
matt a. gave it a6:
I think that most critics are missing the point. Yea, the screenplay isn't exactly first-rate and De Niro isn't as good as he used to be, but these kind of movies are out to win oscars, they supposed to scare the shit out of you, and frankly, I was scared, or better yet, disturbed. This was mostly due to Dakota Fanning's performance, which is nothing short of incredible for a child her age. Again, nothing amazing here, and the ending is contrived and a little maddening, but take it for what it is and you won't be all that disappointed.
ryan m gave it a2:
De Niro's performance is adequate, and the first half of the film builds some suspense. But the film eventually falls apart and becomes cliche and predictable, to the point of uneven silliness. Too many movies these days are looking for that "surprise" ending without effectively building the plot or characters. What usually turns out is an uneven movie with few truly suspensful moments and predictable outcomes. And Dakota's hype as a promising actress is just that. The future will tell. But overacting, dramatizing, and unmemorable performances won't help her now. Plus, boy is she ugly in this movie. Almost to the point of not being able to watch it.
Sam gave it an8:
Matt E, if you can't spell suspense, don't use in a sentence. Sorry, just had to say that though. Ethan N, you should write a review, not a letter to someone you have no chance with because of her age (she's younger) and fame. Just had to say that to, sorry. This is a great film in my opinion, I wasn't dissapointed at all, except for the surprise. It's a good idea, I just predicted it. I swear I did. It's a good film, not terrifying, but eerie.
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