discombobulating

Rating: 5/10 (1 April 2003)

Maybe it was the fact that I waited to watch this on video, but this movie didn't impact as much as I thought it would. Normally, I like a story that doesn't explain everything, and leaves the viewer to wonder about plot lines and conventions. "The Ring", however, even after my second home viewing, seems to be reaching and grasping for its "plot twist". It is never really clarified for me why a video tape is the tool used to scare the death out of those who view it (although it makes an interesting premise for a way to spread the young girl's pain and suffering that she wanted to share with the world). The flashbacks to the tape images as Naomi Watts' character found them in her search were not as distracting as I first thought, but overall lacked clarity when things come full-circle (disturbing as they were).
5 out of 10