An average movie

Before making the Spider-Man trilogy and becoming one of the most successful mainstream directors, Sam Raimi made this moody super-natural thriller. It is also interesting to point out that Billy Bob Thornton did write this movie (maybe people tends to forget it but Thornton got his breakthrough with his directing and writing and not actually as an actor). Anyway, there are many things to enjoy here. First of all, Raimi knows how to direct a thriller and the whole thing was really a nice moody affair. Then, there was a very nice cast (Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, J.K. Simmons) and they all delivered some solid performances. It was above all pretty neat to see actors such as Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank or even Katie Holmes to play against type. Still, even though the whole thing was rather entertaining, I was still disappointed by the plot. Basically, it is one of those typical thrillers with a pedestrian plot and some obligatory and annoying twist at the end. It is quite a shame because, the director was good, the actors were good, the whole thing looked terrific, it's just too bad they didn't make sure they had a really terrific story to start with. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it still remains a decent thriller and I think it is worh a look, especially if you like the genre.

6/10