The Broken
Sub-Genre- Paranoia/Doppleganger
In Attendance- Me
Cast Members of Note- Sexy Brit Lena Headey and the awesome Richard Jenkins.
What's it about?- After a car crash that leaves her amnesiac, Sarah Conner goes a little crazy. When she sees herself driving past herself in her own car on the street one day, her life pretty much goes to shit. I think I'd freak out too, in all fairness.
Her family all think she's a head case too, that is until mirrors start breaking at random and creepy doppelgangers start coming out of them. They start acting in an odd manner too eventually, screaming during sex, drooling on each other, walking around all creepy-style... something evil is definitely afoot!
Is she imagining it all? Are mirrors actually gateways to other worlds? Could this movie be any more sleep inducing? I wont spoil the ending here, but suffice it to say that there's a "twist" that involves midgets spinning plates and gumdrops.
The Good- Make no mistake, as beautiful to look at and as well acted as this movie is, it's dreadfully slow for the first half. Now, if you can stand a slow pace and building atmosphere (like I can), then you'll be fine. If not, this may put you to sleep. The payoff eventually comes, though subtly, because holy shizz does this movie get creepy in its last act.
Once the ending hit me, and I thought back on what I had just seen, I really liked it. It also makes me want to go back and re-watch it, because I suspect that the basic premise of what is going on in this movie was more widespread than I realized. Flaws aside, this one held my interest for the duration.
The Bad- You may need some meth to keep you awake for the first half of this movie. That might not even help. * For the record, I do not support drug use, only the mention of them in a witty and sarcastic manner. Weed's ok though.
The Downright Horrendous- The ending kinda sucked. Not only did we get the obvious twist thrown at us, but it's so ambiguous that we don't truly know what happened let alone why or how. I get the "make up your own mind thing", I was just pissed off because I wanted to know more.
The Gory- One particularly bloody shower, and a few good corpses, but the rest is fairly tame.
The Naked- Sarah Conner gets naked! So does another chick! Good stuff.
Best Line- "But Gina, that's where you live," or something like that.
What did we learn?- Trust no one. Also, mirrors are indeed gateways to other worlds, and evil creatures live there.
Rating- B- (7/10) This is a really solid film visually, acting and craft wise. The premise is pretty cool too, though some people may struggle with the slow pace. Interesting, atmospheric, and eventually creepy, I say definitely check this one out.
Final Thoughts- Yummmy.
