Just when you thought twist-movies had improved... *minor spoilers*

Rating: 7/10 (7 June 2005)

I picked this movie up at Blockbuster after having been recommended it a long time ago. The beginning looked somewhat promising, and I enjoyed the use of a non-linear time-line. The way the many characters were brought together was even kind of clever(even though it's basically just a bunch of people driving in cars at the same place at the same time). Most of the accidents in the beginning was kind of dumb and even a tad staged; most of them seemed to have been easily avoided if the drivers would just pay attention to the road instead of doing everything else at once. Don't consider that a spoiler; it all happens within the first five minutes or so. The plot quickly turns into a regular 'Who Done It', with even the least attentive viewers being able to figure out the order in which order the people get whacked. The pacing tries to be intense, but fails to be so past the first ten minutes. I could barely keep paying attention to it. Up to the very end, this seemed to be a well-done and pretty but ultimately very pedestrian mystery-thriller, with no real surprises. Then came the twist. And it got so much worse. Not only was the twist easy to figure out and a horrible cop-out, it ruined everything the movie had built up(as little as there was) to that point. It kicked down every brick of the foundation of the film. Even worse, the film goes on for about fifteen minutes past that. And here's the real kicker; there's another twist. Even more painful, and even more predictable. You have been warned. If you still have any wish to see this movie at any point, I will objectively review what I haven't reviewed already. The characters are diverse and interesting, and they have a fair amount of development each. The cast does contain some very talented people, unfortunately, too few of them are given anything to do. Jake Busey and John C. McGinley are criminally underused. The film contains a few genuine scares and some decent enough guessing of the killer's identity. I recommend it to fans of the actors and people who enjoy the genres. Just be prepared for a pitifully bad twist ending. 7/10