Seeing 'Saw'

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2004)

I've been looking forward to this movie for a while, and when I learned it was going to be released for Halloween weekend, I was ecstatic. I stumbled across an interview with director James Wan, and as he began describing the beginning of the man, he started giggling maniacally. I had to turn it off as I didn't want to ruin the movie for myself.
The film opens with two men - Adam (played by screenwriter Leigh Wannel) and Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) locked in a dingy, dirty bathroom. They're barefoot and chained to pipes in opposite corners of the room. Between them, face down and just out of reach, is a man with a gun in one hand and a mini-tape recorder in the other. Oh, and there's a bullethole in his head. The story revolves around the two living and chained up men, how they ended up in this bathroom, how they're going to try to get out, and why.
For a first-time director, Wan hits most of his marks. I remember thinking to myself that the film did drag once and could have used a bit more judicious editing to pick up the pace. In contrast, in a sequence near the end of the film, the editing and pacing is jacked WAY up, and felt almost a bit forced, but necessary to keep the entire third act of the film from bogging down.
The brutality of this film is pervasive and definitely leaves an impression even after leaving the theater. The film is rated R, and the intensity of some of the violence (some seen, some implied) definitely leaves its mark. However, I never felt it was exploitive. I did find myself cringing, but I think I would have felt cheated if I didn't.
Danny Glover and Monica Potter also appear in the film; the former as a police detective pulled into the story and the latter as Dr. Gordon's wife. Glover turns in an atypical performance and watching his character fall into the drama was a treat. Potter, however, didn't seem to bring much that any other actress couldn't have brought to the project. This may not have been her fault, however - the character of the doctor's wife felt the least developed to me. (There is a moment at the end of the movie where the doctor's wife really could have done something very different than what she actually did in the film. I justify this to myself by saying that sometimes we watch movies to watch what other characters would do in adverse situations and see what they would do instead of ourselves, but still . . . I'm being intentionally vague here as I don't want to ruin anything about the film, but this didn't take anything away from the movie.)
There's sometimes a tendency to pack a lower-budget or independent movie's audio track with contemporary music or "edgy" soundtrack filler, and I was pleased to not hear much, if anything, like that here. The sound editing and sound mix of the movie worked very well. I don't even recall hearing any incidental music to distract me.
I really enjoyed Saw. With the amount of twists and turns throughout the film, I'm eager to see if a DVD release includes any exciting special features (and there's a part of me that wants to know if any of the material excised from the film to bring the rating down from NC-17 to R might be included is worthwhile). If you can see the movie during it's theatrical, I'd recommend it.
A very well done movie, especially for a newcomer.