Noetling’s Notables

Movie Reviews that Don’t Suck

You’ve all seen the trailer no doubt, Bruce Willis sitting in the hospital being checked out by a doctor, who is giving him the strangest look possible. Willis’ character, David Dunn a down, not quite out security guard, is the only survivor of a horrific train crash, and there isn’t a scratch on him. Neat premise. Then the trailer goes on to spoil the rest of the movie, Dunn asks his wife, played by Robin Wright (Penn) if she can ever remember him getting sick.

I can’t tell you how pissed I was when I saw that trailer. The first trailers, omitting the spoiler scene were terrific, but no, they had to go ruin it for everyone.

So how was the film? Pretty good. I loved the skewed camera angles and creepiness of the piece, even though it didn’t need to be creepy. The subject matter is right up my alley as well, and I won’t spoil it for you by telling you what the subject matter even is. Willis is outstanding, and Sam Jackson can do wrong these days. Robin Wright has come a long way since The Princess Bride, but she’s strictly background here. Most everything works, except that three fourths of the way through the movie it starts taking itself WAY too seriously, and borders on hokeyness. The patented Shyamalan twist ending is here as well, and it’s just as easy to figure out as the twist from The Sixth Sense.

Good stuff, and it’s worth the price of admission. Also, see it on a LARGE screen with good sound. There’s a scene where Jackson, who is playing a man with bones that break like glass, falls down stairs, which is incredibly effective, due to fantastic sound effects editing. I would imagine that this will be nominated for some Oscars, even though it probably isn’t that deserving.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.