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Premonition
TriStar Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

Premonition reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 29 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.4 out of 10
based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 53 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some violent content, disturbing images, thematic material and brief language

Starring Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Shyann McClure, Courtney Taylor Burness, Nia Long, Marc Macaulay, Kate Nelligan, and Amber Valletta

In this eerie, time-bending, emotionally charged thriller, Sandra Bullock stars as a wife in a furious race against time and fate. (Sony Pictures)


GENRE(S): Drama  |  Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Bill Kelly  
DIRECTED BY: Mennan Yapo  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: July 17, 2007 
Theatrical: March 16, 2007 
RUNNING TIME: 110 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

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...

63
ReelViews James Berardinelli
The star and the more overwrought aspects of the plot are mainstream but the philosophical implications will not appeal to those who prefer easily digestible cinematic portions. It's also true that the more deeply one considers the movie's themes and structure, the less sense it makes.
Read Full Review
60
Variety Dennis Harvey
This slick exercise about a housewife whose spouse might or might not be dead is effective until a downright maudlin close.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
As Premonition zigzags toward its solution it loses its head completely, packing a risible final reel with left-field religious disquisitions and heartfelt warnings against infidelity.
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50
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Had it been easier to comprehend at the beginning, there's no telling how bad Premonition might have been.
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50
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
At times, Bullock seems as confused by the plot as we are. Even if you cut the writer Bill Kelly and the director Mennan Yapo a lot of slack, there are plot holes galore. May I suggest that it's time to declare a moratorium on movies about time?
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50
USA Today Claudia Puig
Premonition is both dreary and absurd, suffering from a lack of intrinsic logic and terrible pacing, a one-two punch that kills off any chance of entertainment value.
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50
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
With her tetchy screen persona, Sandra Bullock is well served by brainteasers like "The Lake House" and this passable thriller about a woman who seems to be bouncing between two alternate realities.
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50
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Bullock is so good, working hard to pull off the transition from grief-stricken wife and mother to reluctant time traveler, you want to pull for her. So it's possible - not easy, but possible - to overlook the script's inconsistencies.
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50
San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
A supernatural thriller that keeps your attention while failing to hold you in its grip.
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50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
Once Bullock's character clears her head at the top of the thrill ride, Premonition becomes inescapably dull because it is her mental health, not her purposefully dull husband's fate, that interested us.
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50
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
Premonition is actually more daring than you might expect. Not bold enough to be memorable, maybe, but just enough to keep you from falling asleep in front of the TV.
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50
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Premonition is an odd little thing, with a protagonist in a protracted fugue state and a plot that doesn't know whether its coming or going. Or maybe it does.
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42
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
One piece of advice in trying to make sense of it all: Follow the sleepwear, since Bullock cycles through a few garments that clarify which day is which. Another suggestion? Ignore the two-bit psychological and spiritual doggerel with which screenwriter Bill Kelly tries to deepen the meaning of the game.
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40
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Sandra Bullock is a disheveled, grumpy, adorable mess in Premonition, a psychological thriller that was no doubt pitched as "Medium," only longer and brunette. Or maybe "The Eternal Sixth Sense of the Spotless Groundhog Day."
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40
Village Voice Nathan Lee
Had the film maintained a tone of kooky, Kafkaesque tragicomedy, narrowing in on Linda's wacko wrestling match with the laws of physics, we might really have had something here.
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40
The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
The usually likable Bullock, obstructed by glaring continuity problems and often baffling character motivation, comes across as unsympathetically dazed and confused here, giving the viewer little reason to care about this desperate housewife's puzzling predicament.
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40
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Premonition doesn't know when to stop. The picture can't decide between cheap scares or deep thoughts, so it goes for both.
Read Full Review
38
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
We never get a sensible explanation for Linda's bizarre double life, or uncover any reason - any reason at all - why Bullock would pick this lazy, patchwork script out of all the ones she surely receives every year.
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38
New York Post Lou Lumenick
When you awake, it may all seem like a bad dream - but why is your wallet missing $11? Scary.
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30
The New Yorker Anthony Lane
Although Premonition is not a frightening movie, it is aimed squarely at an audience of frightened souls.
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30
LA Weekly Scott Foundas
They only want us to play that tiresome guessing game: Is it all a dream or is it really happening? Instead, you may find yourself asking: Is this cinema or merely Cinemax?
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30
The New York Times Stephen Holden
The sloppy, absent-minded Premonition is a giant step backward for Ms. Bullock.
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25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
This is a much dumber movie than "The Lake House." In fact, the script is an ungainly mess and ultimately a shaggy-dog story.
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25
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The script's vague, silly "explanation" for Linda's experiences -- nature abhors a spiritual vacuum, so weird stuff happens to the faithless -- is the icing on the irritation cake.
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25
Premiere Scott Warren
The pumped up sound effects play like an overplayed laugh track on a sitcom that just isn't funny and only draws more attention how ineffective the filmmaking is.
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25
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
It's a movie only a psychic could love, since a psychic would know to stay home or see "Zodiac" instead.
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20
Austin Chronicle Steve Davis
If only Bullock could have foreseen how bad Premonition would turn out to be, she would have spared herself (and us) a lot of agony.
Read Full Review
10
Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
Its biggest failing -- and the ultimate one for a lightweight entertainment such as this -- is that it's a deadly bore from start to finish.
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0
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Pay real money to see this feeble fiasco only if you're in the mood for "Groundhog Day" without the laughs.
0
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The real horror here is watching Sandra Bullock drop her big Miss Congeniality smile to A-C-T! She does this by not smiling. What happened to the range she showed in "Crash" and "Infamous?"
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 53 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Hannah gave it a9:
I actually enjoyed this movie... it was very suspenseful and thrilling. Unlike other movies that I've seen lately. I didn't think it was horrible like the movie critics thought but hey I'm not a pro at this kinda stuff.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Just another example on how the critics are out of touch and got it wrong....its hard to believe that they watch the same movies as i do......this was an amazing movie, and i could care less what the snobbish "professional" critics say.

Nick M. gave it a9:
I really don't understand how this movie can be rated so low....there were some places that could have been a little better, but overall i thought this was exciting and entertaining.

Steve K gave it a5:
Not horrible, not great... one thing is for sure.. this movie is frustrating as hell. There are so many holes in how the hole "time travel" thing works that it is a huge impediment to enjoying the movie. I can't count the number of times I said, "That doesn't make any sense". I genuinely wanted to know what happens at the end, but by the time we get there, I was so angy by the contrived, ridiculous ending that defies all logic. I hate when movies manipulate you and have characters that do things that no one with a brain would EVER do just to further their plot. I give it a 5 because it kept my attention till the end, and overall it is well made and shot, with a somewhat poignant and well-meaning epilogue. However, what should have been very touching is robbed of warm feelings, because I was so frustrated by this movie. It helps that I didn't pay any money to see it, otherwise, I probably would have rated it lower.

Pat C. gave it a4:
Nothing here to diminish Bullock's competence as an actress, but if one can see the future as past events, one must conclude here that those who learn from the past are also doomed to repeat it. For those few, those unhappy few who have the option, this movie is a good argument to take life as it comes rather than skipping ahead.

Peter K. gave it a2:
I saw this on a plane... and was glad when we landed that I had not wasted money on a theater ticket. The film falls completely flat at its ending. Think of baking a cake that never rises.

Michel L. gave it an8:
Great Movie! I though it was similar to Lake House.

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