Telegraphed MacGuffin

Rating: 7/10 (31 May 2009)

"Drag Me" is an excellent movie that reminded me of the old quote, I believe from Thalberg, that a movie should contain three great scenes and no bad scenes.
Both the scenes with the cats -- the "hear, kitty-kitty" and the parents' dinner party -- were great, the set-ups with the rival at the office -- the sandwich bit and the Lakers tickets -- were great, and the graveyard scene was truly great. Christine was under water so long that I began groping around mentally for a new protagonist, a la the near-drowning scene in "Star Wars."
The only problem I had was the plot twist involving the coin and button in Act III. I was confident to a degree of absolute certainty that Christine was not giving Mrs. Ganush her button. Did that ruin the movie for me? Not really, because the question becomes what will Clay do with the button. When Christine was sinking in the cemetery, I flashed forward to imagine Clay at the train station, dropping the button and somebody truly evil picking it up -- a movie critic for the L.A. Times, perhaps.
What was interesting was the way Mr. Raimi avoided resorting to a Higher Power to resolve the conflict at the séance scene, as often happens in a supernatural thriller. Of course that sealed Christine's fate -- a la "Carrie." Still, "Drag Me" is an outstanding achievement at all levels -- I recommend it and look forward to repeated viewings.