I didn't even bother to finish...

Rating: 1/10 (28 February 2005)

It is very rare that I don't finish a movie, but this is one that I couldn't bring myself to watch all of. I understand that the acting in a horror/thriller isn't necessarily going to be the greatest, because the characters are put into situations that don't normally occur, and therefore it's a more difficult acting job, but I have seen plenty of movies that place actors in situations that are out of the ordinary where they've handled it much better than in Saw.
The plot is interesting, and is the only thing that kept me watching as long as I did... I would say I made it about three-quarters of the way through... but every time I would start to connect with the characters, every time something started to develop, they would switch scenes, shift gears, and lose me. I couldn't connect with the actors as characters, because just when I felt they were expressing real emotion, either dialog or over-acting would get in my way, and remind me that I was just watching a movie.
Gruesomeness is NOT a prerequisite in a thriller. That's another part of the film that got to me. One of my favorite movies is "Fallen", where there is almost no gruesomeness in the entire movie. In my opinion, that is one of the best thrillers made. No special effects, no weird puppets, no ridiculous amounts of blood, guts, body parts, weird contraptions that tear your head to pieces, just very good acting around a simple yet interesting plot.
Don't see Saw. It's not worth your time.