Product: The Kovak Box (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Sunday, Gloomy Sunday
Timothy Hutton plays David Norton, a successful sci-fi writer who is invited to speak at a conference in Majorca. While enjoying the amenities he takes the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend, but their celebratory evening is cut short after Norton finds a DVD on the bed, which is found to contain some disturbing material. While he ponders the strange gift, she receives a mysterious call on her cell phone and decides that she"Might as well jump. jump !Might as well jump.Go ahead, jump. jump !Go ahead, jump." *Simultaneously, Silvia (Lucia Jimenez) awakens after an evening of carousing with a friendly disc jockey, and while she is in the shower she is interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone, the caller ID reading "Gloomy Sunday". The next thing she knows, she's thinking"Might as well jump. jump !Might as well jump.Go ahead, jump. jump !Go ahead, jump." *She awakens in hospital, and learns that she has jumped off the balcony in an apparent suicide attempt, foiled by the fortunate placement of a canvas awning, more suited to catching the rays of the sun than falling nudes.At the hospital she sees the grief-stricken David, and realizes that something is terribly wrong on the island. Sure enough, a rash of unexplained suicides erupts, and after she is attacked by a hypodermic wielding man, the two join forces to solve the mystery. The trail leads them to Frank Kovak, a scientist given to creative experimentation, and subsequently to Norton becoming a leading character straight out one of his books.After a slow start, this film picks up nicely, and although Timothy Hutton is an unlikely choice for a leading man in an action film, his co-star Jimenez more than makes up for his shortcomings. David Kelly does not quite master the "evil villain" role, but manages to personify an extremely sinister and creepy old coot with an almost visible aura of rottenness hanging in the air around him.The movie draws largely from an urban legend about a depressing Hungarian song re-titled "Gloomy Sunday" (sung in the movie by Heather Nova, but also covered by Billie Holiday, Paul Robeson, Mel Tormé, Sinead O'Connor, Sarah McLachlan and others), said song being more than enough to make you think that you"Might as well jump. jump !Might as well jump.Go ahead, jump. jump !Go ahead, jump." *The premise has been handled better in other movies, but once you get past the first part, you should enjoy this one.Amanda Richards, May 27, 2007*Note: The lyrics in this review are from "Jump" by Van Halen. This song is not featured in the movie, and has no link to the movie, but I exercised some artistic license, as the words to "Gloomy Sunday" are just too darned depressing.