One of the year's few sci-fi films that actually takes itself seriously, and a movie that goes a long way on the strength of its unique premise, steady performances and impressive visual style.
Striking visuals help, but pic won't make the final cut with either genre fans, who've seen it all and better before, or the arthouse crowd, who will sneer at pic's cliches.
Pressing on in grimly introverted "One Hour Photo" mode, Williams only stirs nostalgia for his slapstick days (ghastly '90s roles notwithstanding)--he's such a natural-born ham he manages to overdo understatement.
It's not a bad premise for a movie, but writer-director Omar Naim, a 26-year-old Lebanese native making his feature debut, proves equally inept at handling plotting, actors and pacing.
A good idea that did not work out.
This film takes place in the relatively near future (note that the clothes and the style of the objects is similar to ours), where high technology microchips are available to those who want to record their entire existence on Earth, in order to be remembered after death. Microchips record everything you do, good or bad, needing an editor for the public viewing of the movies, which had become a relatively popular ritual associated with a person's funeral. The problem is that there are many people who are against these practices and are willing to do anything to stop it.
This movie takes to the extreme the concept of Big Brother. We are watched, the information goes to a large multinational but the five senses of our body are the recording medium of everything. The film has a very good premise, an original concept, which has not always been well used and developed. There are scenes and sequences that are better than others, but one notes a general decrease in quality from the middle of the film onwards. Some sub-plots do not make sense, such as the love relationship between Alan and Delilah, which is left over in the general plot, not to mention that this female character is virtually an extra. There are still a handful of paradoxes, failures of continuity and lack of logic.
About the actors, we can point out a regular participation of Robin Williams, which stands out because the actor is not particularly known for his dramatic roles. Jim Caviezel is a cardboard villain and does one of the worst jobs as an actor in his career. Mira Sorvino has nothing to do here and the rest of the cast is limited to doing what is asked of them, without brilliance or demerit.
It's not enough a good idea for a hit movie. This idea must be matured and well developed, each part of the script must be the object of care and attention. It's not what happens here. The screenwriter fell asleep in the shadow of the original idea and the film just lost with it.
Production Company
Lions Gate Entertainment,
Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG,
Industry Entertainment,
Cinetheta,
Final Cut Productions,
Milestone Entertainment