Orphan-Too Long, Too Wrong, and Too Sad.

Rating: Null/10 (4 August 2009)

WARNING THIS PIECE CONTAINS SPOILERS DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE.
When we first open up on The Orphan we are introduced to a horrific scene that jolts us into the reality of the movie. In that respect, this is a startlingly amazing entrance, however the remainder of the movie fails to live up to the tone set at the beginning. Once, removed from that scene the rest of the movie strikes us as slow paced and boringly predictable. (Excluding the twist which, respectfully, was hard to see)
By about thirty minutes into the movie we are finally introduced to Esther. It may not be thirty minutes, but after twenty or so I felt like Peter Griffin in Family Guy, that scene where he talks about making it ten minutes into "Failure to Launch" then stands up and in a clear voice says "Done!" Sadly, this movie makes me feel the same way.
The acting was very well done, and one could not look at the performances and say anything negative about it. Instead, looking at the story and visual choices, there are some annoying and downright irritating events. In particular the choice to finally fulfill the tension at every third point. It seems that the Director over uses the familiar jump out and scare us tactics so many times that someone could have told the audience when to actually be afraid. The effect of said scare tactics wore off by the time we get to the playground scene with Esther.
Story wise there are a few plot holes and things that seem unnecessary. John and Kate's conversation about John cheating on Kate many years ago doesn't add anything to the story. It shows up only once, twice if you count the playground scene as flirtatious, and only causes the audience to question John more than Esther. It takes away from whom we want to know more about.
However, despite these things that were discovered to be wrong, the movie did have impressive moments. Aside from the plot holes the script stands firm, needing only a few re-writes to truly hammer in its point. The acting is superb and the actual camera work and lighting strike as well motivated. While one couldn't recommend anyone buy this movie, seeing it in the theatre at least once would not be beyond recommendation.
7 out of 10