Great ending; mediocre movie.

Rating: 4/10 (3 March 2006)

Felt like he came up with a wonderfully cleaver twisty ending and then built a mediocre movie around it. It certainly took off after he decides to kill her, but until then who are you supposed to like or care about or even marvel at a-la-Hannibal Lecter? At one point, during their first kiss in the rain, I thought Woddy was purposefully making a movie with wildly clichéd language: "No good cam come of this..." What tripe. Maybe I'd heard too much good about this before going, but it really did nothing for me. It certainly has been fun discussing it with friends, many who disagree with me. The tennis ball hitting the tape -- ring hitting the guard rail is great stuff. And the fact that it seemed like this was bad luck (big spoiler ahead) and it ended-up being the thing that exonerated him is pure genius. But sheesh! I must admit I'm no fan of Ms. Johanson and I found them entirely without any on-screen chemistry. And the moment when, in the heat of passion, she uses his necktie for a blindfold was the second lowpoint (after that rainstorm kiss). Insert eyeroll here. Just awful. I do have to wonder if anyone would be giving this much praise if the director had done it under an assumed name...