Bovie Movie

Although he plays it surprisingly straight for once, director David Cronenberg nevertheless brings a dry wit and a satirical edge to this dark thriller. Life is sweet as apple pie for local diner owner Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen, smartly tweaking his noble-hero persona), his wife Edie (Maria Bello, wholesome yet sexy) and their regulation two kids. But when Tom becomes a media hero after preventing a hold-up, a disfigured thug (Ed Harris) surfaces with henchmen in tow. Insisting Tom is his old Mob buddy “Joey” from Philadelphia, he manages to cast doubt even in Edie’s mind, creating a central “is-he-or-isn’t-he” mystery that’s deliciously teased out. Once that question is solved, the film sags slightly, but it perks up again in the final act thanks to a ripe, comic turn from William Hurt. The violence comes in small but brutal bursts — the closest Cronenberg comes here to the horror that made his name in such films as The Fly. 

Absolutely ludicrous from its hokey start to senseless finish, the only shock in this ersatz haunted house thriller is that Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) considered it worth directing. When city slickers Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone move to a dilapidated country mansion, they face redneck prejudice and sinister threats from former owner and ex-con Stephen Dorff, who wants to keep a dark family secret buried there. With every plot twist telegraphed well in advance, the best thing to do is sit back and stoically tick off each plodding spooky cliché as it appears. Complete with Dorff emanating badness from scene one and his trailer-trash girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) and her inscrutable sheriff sister (Dana Eskelson) refusing to believe the patently obvious, nothing makes sense in this technically proficient but bogus horror. More hilarious than creepy — Dorff infesting the house with poisonous snakes is embarrassingly overacted — think cold, creaky mannerisms instead. 

The thirty and something years old psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Goodman has an incurable brain tumor that has just started to grow. Felling totally stressed, she decides to spend the weekend in her cottage with her husband, the writer David Goodman, and her sister Melody. She unexpectedly arrives in the cabin and finds a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator. Later, a young man, Adrian, asks for help due to the cold weather and once in the house, he shows a gun and brings his partner, the violent sexual offender and Samantha’s former patient Harlan Pyne. Along the night, Harlan forces the family to participate in twisted games, where truths are disclosed.

Michael Douglas stars in this frenetic thriller as psychiatrist Nathan Conrad, whose comfortable existence is shattered when his young daughter is kidnapped. The ransom for her return is a six-digit number locked in the memory of near-catatonic mental patient Brittany Murphy. Douglas must therefore delve into the girl’s damaged psyche, retrieve the number and deliver it to kidnapper Sean Bean — and he has one day to do it. While the premise is faintly ludicrous and some of the plot developments heavily signposted — Nathan’s wife (Famke Janssen) is laid up in their apartment with a broken leg — the compelling performances from Douglas and Murphy, and the pacey direction of Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls) make it an enjoyable ride.