wait for the DVD on this flick

Rating: 4/10 (21 February 2010)

Where do I even begin? I was curious to see this movie as parts of it were filmed in my area. I knew some of the extras that would be in it and there was a lot of hype. Needless to say this film for me just didn't work. The premise of the story is that Leo's character is sent to a mental institute for the criminally insane to investigate a missing patient. He has flashbacks and as the story unwinds you begin to see he has his own struggles. You begin to wonder who the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys' are.
The film starts off slow...peaks to slow..and even ends in an unsatisfying way. At times I felt like I was watching 'A Beautiful Mind' and 'One Few Over the Cuckoo's Nest' only with a darker eerier tone that almost entirely moves at snail's pace. I didn't find it gory or creepy...just slowwww
I was distracted by the green screen during the journey on the boat and in the jeep ride with the Warden and at times seemed to be a green screen during the cliff scenes.
The dead girl moves so much in one scene I was distracted to the point that their death didn't even seem impactful because she was moving. Leo, Michelle, Mark and Ben all do great jobs with the acting ( I guess)..it was just painful to stay awake with the story lines. Too draggy...
Some of it was even just unbelievable...(i.e. the 'c' building that seemed more abandoned than an actual hospital setting and the lighthouse ..spiral staircases make it difficult to lug all that bulky furniture) ...but yet ..it happened..
I loved 'The Departed' and usually like Scorcese's twist on story telling...I just didn't enjoy this one..I would wait for the DVD.
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