A social worker who uses new technology to enter her patients’ minds is recruited to help the FBI to assist in finding the last victim of a serial killer who is in a coma.
Written by Mark Protosevich and directed by Tarsem Singh, this one is a film that is a product of the year 2000 with elements that may have felt more edgy back 25 years ago, but while some of the story elements are not as shocking anymore, especially for non-general-public audiences, the story as a whole is still rather interesting. This film is very much as much about style as it is about the story with some scenes being definitely all about style. This is one of those films that some adore and some can’t stand. The story is one that could easily fit in a procedural type of television series within one single episode, but the way it’s extended into this film works quite well. The mystery is not all that mysterious, we know who the killer is from the start, but they need information from to save his latest victim. It’s a fairly predictable story but it works decently well. Silence of the Lamb this isn’t, but it’s still a worthy police procedural with horror and sci-fi overtones.
The cast here is led by Jennifer Lopez, as the social worker, who is better here than she has been in a long time, there’s something more innocent in her performance, something less calculated. Joining her is Vincent D’Onofrio as the comatose killer with a sad past, D’Onofrio does fantastically well here with all the different versions of the character he gets to embody, and he really helps create the atmosphere in his dream-world sequences. Joining them as the FBI agent most involved here is Vince Vaughn who is decent in the part, giving his character life and really playing the sense of urgency well when needed. One part that is not top billed is the lastest victim, the one stuck in aquarium and likely to die soon. This part here is played by Tara Subkoff who is great in the part. She imbues her character with a desperation that is just right for the part, swinging back and forth between trying to be saved and almost accepting her fate. She is fantastic here and steals the whole show acting-wise.
What actually steals the whole movie here are the style and visuals. The art direction here is amazing and the set design, set dressing, wardrobe, hair, makeup, all of it comes together to create the dreamland or dream world the characters go into with changes based on who’s head they are in, creating different worlds for each, with specific looks for each that all come together cohesively. This film is a very visual one, more than usual, with high art and the unusual put together in just the right way to make this a great visual universe to envelop the viewer in and bring them into the story deeply. This is where the film truly shines, and it elevates it much higher than the story alone would have. The vision here is one that is fully developed and engaging.
This new re-release on disc from Arrow Video looks fantastic and includes three versions, the theatrical version and the director’s cut which are interesting to see the small differences between the two, but also a director of photography cut, one where the aspect ratio is different and so is the color grading. This is a very interesting version in that it shows the difference these decisions make on a film. Change the color grading and it looks quite different in some scenes, change the aspect ratio and the film feels different in some of the scenes, being given a different level of epicness.
As usual for Arrow Video, the extras present here are numerous and of high quality. The favorites of the pack here are both archival audio commentaries, the feature-length interviews with Tarsem Singh, and the interview with director of photography Paul Laufer. Other highly recommended extras are the deleted and extended scenes, the interview about the alternate master of the film, and the visual essay by Alexandra Heiler-Nicholas. There is a ton on here and it’s all worth checking out for fans of the film.