Kenneth Branagh’s murder mystery is a high-concept movie that fails to deliver the goods. Mike Church (Branagh) who takes on the cause of Grace (Emma Thompson). Grace is troubled by thoughts of a woman named Margaret at the hands of her jealous husband Roman. As Church and Grace go to Franklin Madson (Derek Jacobi), who knows hypnotism, to get to the bottom of Grace’s nightmares.

After this point I am going to speak plainly and reveal the end of the film. I recommend avoiding the film, but if you wish to see it anyway, stop reading.

The intent of the film is to offer a tightly wound mystery involving reincarnation and revenge. The big twist is that Church and Grace were married in a previously life as Margaret and Roman. As an added twist their genders were swapped out following their reincarnation so Church was Margaret and Grace was Roman – so, in a previous life Grace murdered Church. The whole affair is quite thick. While screenwriter Scott Frank doe a good job of unraveling this convoluted plot, he does so at the expense of character development. Mike Church, in particular is a rather thin character without much depth. Frank gives Church the business of quitting smoking, that’s about does it as far as character goes. Branagh miscasts himself in the role of Church. While he does well as Roman Strauss, his Mike Church is flat. For starters, Branagh’s American accent is far from flawless and he seems a little lost for things to do. He’s awkward in the role. His Church seems far too squirrely and not nearly coarse enough to be a believable private investigator. Emma Thompson offers a good performance as Grace and is given a little more to work with by the script. Supporting the couple Jacobi, Robin Williams and Andy Garcia each give their stock performances. Jacobi is stuffy, Williams is the enlightened funny man and Garcia is brutish charmer. There’s no performance here that stands out. I believe this primarily because each of these actors bring more to the table than the script does. They’re left fumbling through underwritten scenes instead of building up the kind of performances one would expect from such a strong cast.

The names in this script are so hokey. Church and Grace are the leads? In the past they were Roman and Margaret. So Branagh is playing Roman and Church = Roman Church and Thompson is Margaret and Grace – Margaret means pearl (pearl of wisdom) = wisdom and Grace? You have the murderous son who’s last name just happens to me Madson – Mad Son. Am I making too much out of the names? Probably not. This is the kind of thing screenwriters will do all the time. Instead of creating names that fit the character they will often make the names symbolic or have some double meaning. The problem with doing this is that what makes sense when the writer pens the script may not make sense by the time the entire production crew gets done getting their filthy uncreative mitts all over the piece. Either way, the names in this script are way too obtuse and silly.


Worldview: The central concept is interesting since it unintentionally outlines the inherent flaw in the idea of karma. The characters committed sins in the past and they’re condemned to repair those sins in the present. The sins of today create the reality of tomorrow. It is a never ending and ultimately pointless endeavor. No one is perfect so no one can escape the cycle of karma. This is where Christ comes in for us Christians. You can believe in karma all you want but there is only one way out, Christ. Since he died for our sins and redeems us this constant karmic repair work is complete. This Ying and Yang nonsense is for dopes. Saddle up with Christ and get out of the loop.


Related Reviews:
Robin Williams movies
The Final Cut (2004)
The World According to Garp (1982)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
Siskel & Ebert
Rotten Tomatoes

Labels: Andy Garcia, Derek Jacobi, Emma Thompson, film, Kenneth Branagh, movie review, Robin Williams