Reviews

I really enjoyed this movie. It looks magnificent, the script is witty and believable, and the plot will truly keep you guessing until the very last minute.

I find that this is one of the few films that's still enjoyable after many viewings. I think that's partly down to Michael Douglas' convincing portrayal of the snake-like billionaire anti-hero - he's had similar roles in movies such as 'Wall Street' and 'A Perfect Murder', but this is a character with much greater depth. He gets some great lines - one of my personal favourites occurs after he's lost a shoe running from the attack dogs :

= There goes a thousand dollars !

= Your shoes cost a thousand dollars ?

= That one did.

I'll admit that the plot occasionally stretches credibility, particularly in the last few minutes - the entire story centres around accepting that CRS is able to predict how Michael Douglas' character is going to react to the situation he's placed in. If you can't accept this idea, I don't think you'll have much fun with the movie.

*MAJOR* SPOILER ALERT :

Many people have criticised the ending - how could they know exactly where he'd jump from ? In defence, I've got two theories :

= First, we never see the layout of the entire rooftop - it's possible there's only place where it would be possible to climb over the edge of the roof (perhaps other directions are walled off, etc). Once Van Orton decides to jump, he has little choice about where to jump from.

= In the post-jump party, the TV actor he kidnapped at the zoo tells Van Orton, 'Thank God you jumped - if you didn't, I had to throw you off !'. You're not asked to believe that CRS *knew* he would jump - but their psychological profiling told them it was likely he *might*.

Flimsy, I know, but I think it's unfair to dismiss the whole movie as completely ludicrous based on the final few minutes.

Great movie overall, it gets 9/10 from me.

Warning - big spoiler below !

I've got nothing but praise for this movie. Other reviewers have commented on the intelligent plot and fine acting - I'll just add that the director did an excellent job of building a very creepy, tense atmosphere without resorting to cheap scare tactics (Exorcist III is another film that does this very well).

I have one major problem with the plot, however (big spoiler coming up!). Towards the end, Jacob meets up with a chemist who explains that his platoon was used to field-test an experimental combat drug. Most of the movie later turns out to be a invention of Jacob's dying mind, so the entire chemist sub-plot is simply part of his fantasy. *But* the opening minutes of the movie suggest that the drug was REAL; we see Jacob get bayonetted by an US soldier. So is the BZ drug real or not ? Either way, I don't think the movie is completely consistent.

This question aside, this is well worth seeing. The DVD version is also recommended - it adds some deleted scenes and a director's commentary. 9/10 from me.