It has some amazing moments...and, finally, a strong performance by Madeleine Stowe

Rating: 6/10 (19 April 2006)

Futuristic prisoner Bruce Willis (in a terrific performance) is bounced around in time in an attempt to find the origins of a horrific plague that nearly wiped out humanity. Terry Gilliam's crafty, canny, brainy thriller does take a good forty-five minutes to get cooking, but from that point on it is highly successful. I haven't been a big admirer of Madeleine Stowe's work (or maybe it's just her knack for picking terrible projects, like "Bad Girls"); playing a psychiatrist who teams with Willis, she's strong and engaging here, giving her best performance ever. The picture attempts to continually elude perceptions through side-bars, a trick which doesn't always work, yet the movie is still quite amazing. A suspenseful ride with both funny and thought-provoking sequences. **1/2 from ****