Warning: movie contains intelligence

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2004)

Spoilers. I noticed a few comments about the "over-acting" of the Doctor guy. I wonder how it is that people that write those comments actually know how a human being who is under extreme stress, and whose wife and kid are in the hands of a sadist would actually behave? Are you critics of such acting speaking from some kind of experience here? Or are you just looking, as one insightful poster pointed out, for an understated performance. To have enough adrenaline to saw off your leg in the hope of saving your loved ones does not call for a bullshit Keanu Reeves style grace under pressure turn. Understated performances are actually rather cowardly, easier to do and are certainly dull. That's why "stars" underact. Sadly people now think that under-acting is good. If you have ever seen anyone stressed to the point that they crack up and panic, then you will not describe their behavior as stoic and understated. I'm no expert in psychology but I know enough to say that it is difficult to say whether such acting is realistic or not. But it was good enough for me. Saw steals from various movies, yet it manages to have its own personality and has more creativity than a million mainstream flicks. It is often suggestive, occasionally genuinely gory. And, SERIOUS SPOILERS, the twist ending is a corker! I enjoyed this movie, it set up an amazing initial scene and then kept up the suspense aside from the woefully unsatisfying detective scenes, which felt tagged on and pointless, badly acted ("you need a girl friend") and cliché (noticing a detail on a video tape, why they didn't spot that earlier leaves the mind boggled). The movie, at it's core, is influenced by computer adventure games, I suspect. Here's a situation, solve it or die. The most suspenseful scene for me was the one where a poor woman's had to solve a particularly unpleasant puzzle or lose her jaw. Awesome!