When the authorities find a drowned woman’s body, a small-town psychic (Cate Blanchett) starts having visions of who committed the murder, which means she’s the only one who can testify to what truly happened … and that she could be the killer’s next target. Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear co-star in this moody Sam Raimi thriller co-written by Billy Bob Thornton
For most of the film I was sure I knew who the killer was. I was wrong. Sam Raimi and Billy Bob Thornton tell a good story that pulls you into the troubled lives of just about every character. And what a set of characters it is:
Cate Blanchett carries the show.
Giovanni Ribisi most recently played “Parker Selfridge” in “Avatar”.
Keanu Reeves does a great job as a mean red-neck villain.
Greg Kinnear was the father in “Little Miss Sunshine”
Hilary Swank gets beaten up a lot by her vicious husband Keanu Reeves
Gary Cole appeared many times in “The Good Wife” as the ballistics expert
J.K. Simmons appears everywhere. He is the long-suffering boss of Kyra Sedgwick in “The Closer”.
Los Angeles gumshoe Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) takes the case of a woman (Emma Thompson) beset with amnesia and soon makes the startling discovery that he and his client are connected — via reincarnation — to a lurid, 40-year-old murder. Branagh is convincing as an American private investigator, and he gets fine support from Thompson (his real-life wife at the time) in this inventive modern noir thriller.
Give a ‘B’ to this somewhat dated film. However, it is just plain fun to see a lot of actors at a young part of their lives. After all, the film is almost 20 years old and a lot can happen in 20 years (such as Branagh and Thompson getting a divorce). Some of the actors are:
Kenneth Branagh who speaks a credible American sprinkled here and there with a few choice curse words. He plays two roles.
Emma Thompson speaks British. She plays two roles.
Who would have thought that Derek Jacobi was ever young. Recall him as the stuttering “I Claudius” ? He even manages to stutter in this film.
A year after this film Wayne Knight was the unforgettable “Newman” from “Seinfeld”
Andy Garcia you know well. Don’t miss the scene in which he is an old man dying of throat cancer from a lifetime of smoking. He speaks through a hole in his Adam’s apple. He begs Branagh for a cigarette and smokes it through the same hole.
I did a double-take. “That can’t be Robin Williams, can it?”. Sure enough!
The acting sometimes breaks down. Amazing to see how technology (cellphones, etc) would have completely changed the scenery in just 20 years. Still it was fun seeing handsome and beautiful people in their prime.
