Thinking Man's Thriller - An Oxymoron

Rating: 5/10 (20 April 2006)

Christian Bale lost a lot weight to get into character for this movie. He is what carries this film through a somewhat suspect plot. With better material, this could have been a blockbuster.
Instead, the goal of this movie seems to be provide a large amount of disturbing images in such a way that you have a chance to see it coming without looking away from the screen (or your television).
Excellent cinematography and excellent acting by the leads (Bale and Jennifer Jason-Leigh). But the problem with this film isn't the acting. It's the story itself.
The plot, while uneven and mysterious enough to keep your attention, becomes more and more unbelievable as the film progresses. The turning point for me was when the prostitute (Jason-Leigh) reinforces the fact that Resnick (Bale) is the man holding the fish in the photograph with his co-worker from the factory.
Simply put, the mere suggestion that Resnick has been chasing himself the entire movie really ruins the rest of the film. The director tries to make some sense of a morality tale but the bottom line is this: there just isn't enough meat in this story to make for a compelling "this is your conscience talking" theme.
At the risk of spoiling the conclusion, the director could and should have thrown in a few more similarities between Resnick and Ivan (John Sharion). If you can stop scratching your head and rewinding the DVD for a second, the brilliant conclusion may have been enough to atone for an otherwise hollow film.