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Most of the reviews I read about this film gave it a good rating. I, however, disagree. I think this movie is superbly done..most of the way through. I question the plausibility of some of what happens in this movie. I do not question the desire that some people have that would make them want to do this.
Realizing that this is just a movie, I can allow the reality meter in my mind to bend just a bit. But, it's the very end that makes me want to break the dvd. I'll tell you why later (so as not to spoil the movie for those who might want to watch it).
Hayley (Ellen Page - "Juno," "Smart People") is a witty young girl - and I do mean young: 14 years of age. She is gettin' chatty with an older man over the internet and decides to meet him at a coffee shop. Jeff shows up, played by Patrick Wilson ("Watchmen," "The A-Team"), and he is a charming, assumingly attractive older guy at 32 who is a photographer and does model shoots. They chit-chat some at the shop, then they head over to his place. From there it takes a surprising turn. This is where the review ends, for those who haven't seen this movie yet and do not want to read any spoilers.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
He takes her home and you find out real quick that he's a perv. His every word, his every move even feels perverted. You can just tell he is trying to manipulate her. But then she turns the table and drugs him. I liked this move. Then she ties him up and questions him. Through a series of questions, we find out that he is a pedophile, molesting the young girls that come to him for photo shoots. Eventually she straps him to a table and tells him she is going to cut his testicles off. Again, still liking the movie. She does it, or at least makes him think she did. Which only makes the movie better.
When it started going downhill for me was when he got loose off the table, found out that he is still "all there" and goes to the shower, where she is waiting for him. She pushes him in the shower, tazes him a few times. At one point he grabs her arm with the taser, yet somehow she manages to wrestle him (a 14 year old against a 32 year old) until she can get the taser back to his body and tazes him again. This seemed very unrealistic.
But I told myself, maybe they're throwing all their plausibility on the fact that he got tazed so much that he lost all his strength. So I shut my mouth and kept watching. After that, things picked back up a little. She e-mailed his first love, she planted evidence that he killed Donna (the whole reason she is there any way, to take out some revenge).
The absolute worst part was the end on the roof. What man in his right mind just stands RIGHT NEXT to a 14 year old girl and lets her talk him into putting a noose around his neck for the second time and actually walks off the roof, killing himself? She is standing right there! Reach out and hit her! She had a gun at first, great. I understand. But after they wrestle on the roof, she is close enough that it doesn't matter...he can knock her out.
So why didn't he? She tried to play the guilt card: "Oh, your first love is gonna see everything you've done - or you can kill yourself." Bunk that! Good-bye girly, smack. then you go lie to everyone and say she was crazy, drugged you then planted that stuff in your house. So the end ruined it. What person, man or woman, would just kill themself because a 14 year old told them to? That took all the plausibility out of it, therefore it squeezed the life out of the movie. Up til then it was a 9 or 10/10. But the plot sank, so the rate sank.
Good luck with this one, guys. The women might like it (feminine power, men are perverted type thing - not knockin' it, just statin' it), but I don't see very many in the male community taking a real interest.
Ellen Page did a pretty good job acting her part, though. That and the overall idea of the movie are what got it the 2 points.
Did I like the movie? No.
Bold is for point. Strike is no point.
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1. Lead actor/actress
2. Supports/chemistry
3. Movie foundation
4. Genre-specific relevance.
6. Good plot
7. Climax
8. End of the movie
9 a. Realistic?
10. Graphics, etc
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