I wasn’t aware of Brad Anderson’s “Session 9,” when it first came out with a limited release, but I’m glad I was finally able to see it, as it’s definitely something different and unique. Filming with digital injects the movie with a lot of dread and tension along with a more realistic feeling. The atmosphere is incredible with its dark corners of the setting often feeling ominous and harrowing.
As sleek and visual as this movie is, it’s not one of the best gangster movies I’ve seen; It’s possibly the worst. We get a nonsensical, clichéd movie with a contrived plot and go-nowhere characters. First off, the cast, though big, is pretty useless. We have a paper thin love story between Renfro and Balk that is very reminiscent of “Romeo & Juliet” yet comes off as forced and seems too much like a plot device.
Two very very stupid characters dive head first into a barrage of ridiculous moves that ultimately get them in deep. That’s the difference between this and “Duel”. In “Duel”, the main character is an innocent man being torment, throughout this movie, the main characters ask for it. The reason why Paul Walker’s character doesn’t deck Steve Zahn’s character is beyond me. This is somewhat reminiscent of Spielberg’s “Duel”, though the two don’t compare. You never get to see the driver “Rusty Nail” much. I thought it increased the tension of the movie and made him very mysterious.
The film and entire story manages to orchestrate under the impression of a very long episode of “The Twilight Zone”, and carefully takes its time setting up the characters which, writer Larry Fessenden (who also directs, and edits) probably knew would ultimately affect the audience in a deep way. Hardcore horror fans probably will eventually become uneasy and impatient, but I was willing to sit through the entire film, because as the story progresses, I was very engrossed. Fessenden manages to skillfully craft a story of such sophistication, that no commercial Hollywood writer would have been able to think of it. Fessenden also manages to create some truly endearing, charming, and very realistic characters that the story revolves around, and I was very captured by the essence of the family.
At a running time of simply an hour and twenty-one minutes “Domestic Disturbance” speeds through its narratiuve, and never leaves times for suspense, tension, or even logic. If the director Harold Becker had added a half hour more to pad the story and fill in the gaps, there likely would’ve been some great stuff. But that’s only really wishful thinking as “Domestic Disturbance” seems to ride on the fact that it’s hopelessly silly and lacking in thrills. In a movie that casts as Vince Vaugn as its primary psychotic villain, it becomes plainly obvious that the studios just aren’t even trying.
In the movie we fast- forward to 2008 where we see Jason whose finally been caught by The Crystal Lake Research Facility. Scientists have decided to freeze him forever until they find out a way to kill him. Scientists decide that instead of freezing Jason and storing him, they want to research his regenerating power for the good of mankind. Rowan played by Lexia Doig disagrees and urges them to freeze him. Mistakenly, Jason breaks free from his shackles and slaughters all the scientists and now begins chasing Rowan. She is cornered in the cryogenic freezing room and lures Jason into the chamber and freezes him. But when she think she’s safe, Jason stabs her through the chamber and accidentally makes the chamber leak, freezing them both. Fast- forward 455 years into the future where space researchers go on a field trip into the now abandoned facility where they discover the frozen Jason and Rowan.
In the academy-award winning biography picture, John Nash played by Russell Crowe is a shy college student who is considered somewhat of a genius by his peers and a bit of a odd man. He soon gets recruited by a secret government agent (Ed Harris) to encode secret documents and codes for the rival government. He then meets Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) who falls in love with him. But soon, John begins to discover that things in his life aren’t as they seem. Finally, that academy decided to award Ron Howard with the best director Oscar at the awards and did he ever deserve it. What struck me the most about this movie is the incredible style in which Howard directs.