Was this as bland for you as it was for me?

Rating: 4/10 (22 June 2007)

There is more than one saving grace in "1408"; unfortunately, it is the tour-De-force by Mr. Cusack that literally kills everything else here. The concept is fine, the special effects are sometimes very impressive, but the whole project feels like the accompanying documentary that shows up in a few DVD's... it is not the movie, it doesn't have the dramatic core that makes the feature presentation appealing, either good, bad, superb, or awful. What is so distinctive about this film is that it feels very bland, devoid of any life, inspiration, or difference between the highs and lows.
Cusack, the non believer, pretty much, along the lines of the most interesting "The Reaping", where an intense Hillary Swank became personally involved in finding redemption and salvation for a town and others, as well as herself. In "1408", a reporter is now in the middle of a world that he doesn't really believe in. Clunkily directed and written, Cusack goes from a typical assignment to a nightmarish one, where is quickly besieged by his own demons and a few other unexplainable events, and he learns that the occurrences that he has somehow disregarded as impossible, are indeed more real than he ever thought possible.
There are some "chilling" moments in the film, as Cusack realizes that he has lost all control, and a couple of times we see the moments that would have startling in a much better movie, here look like apathetic first rehearsals. There is a moment when Cusack searches for numbing liquor, and instead he opens a window into the manipulative connection between horror and reality. In the climax, there is another upsetting scene, with the power of a bad "Three Stooges sketch".
Maybe it's the anticipation of seeing an experiment with Cusack, who is an intelligent and capable actor. One expects much more than this amateurish result. Cusack somehow typecasts himself. He looks rather familiar, perhaps in the way he is presented. There is not much that is different from the Cusack we have seen in films, like "High Fidelity", "Must Love Dogs", or a few other movies. In fact, his physical appearance might be a drawback here. Had more time been invested in smoothing details and had someone taken the time to look at the director's work before the entire film was shot, we might have come up with a much better movie.
There is something known as suspension of disbelief, but I doubt even that can help here. So, American audiences have already used much of that when viewing "Spiderman 3", "Shrek 3", and "Pirates 3", after those three there is not much left, and "1408" is the first casualty of the summer. Hollywood, you have the resources, use them and come up with another Golden Age; well, maybe you can at least get close enough to silver...