The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Just getting home from the preview of the Exorcism of Emily Rose.
A friend of mine went into this film expecting it to be "the Exorcist with better effects!"
My expectations were different.
I tried to explain to him what it was about and how it SHOULD follow more of the trial than the actual exorcism. It is NOT a horror movie and shouldn't be. It should take it's subject matter seriously and do its best to play both sides so the viewer can make up their OWN mind. It should basically be Catholic Law & Order. And come on, it had Tom Wilinson and Laura Linney. These are two damn fine actors!! One is better than the other, in my opinion...cough*Oscar winner*cough... but they can both bring their A game to something like this. Granted, the trailers supported HIS expectations more than mine.
But guess what... I think we were BOTH right. The film is genuinely tense and scary. Something the Exorcist never quite did for me. And it was actually COMPELLING. I mean, sure I knew what to expect. Sure I knew many details and most of the generalities of the "Case". But I was still on the edge of my mental seat.
And a LOT of it comes from good ol' Tom. Damn, that boy can act! Anyone remember his brief bit in Batman Begins? That was AWESOME!! And that was a bit part in a comic book movie and that man came in and had some FUN! And did an accent! Sure, he essentially does an accent in Emily Rose but that's more getting RID of his normal one. In BB he takes on a specific american accent and does it rather well, I thought.
Not that Laura Linney is slacking off in this one. She does an excellent job of conveying the lawyer side of her character and the inner debate of faith. You believe her when she's confident and buy it when she isn't. Good job. Sadly, she might be overlooked by the woman who played Emily. Wow. Wow. Some nice work. Some may think she only got the part because of the contortionist-style positions she can force her body into but those fools are ignoring the beautiful job she did ACTING in this thing. And it could've been a thankless role. Please pay attention to her whenever she's onscreen. Seriously, you won't regret it.
Ok, enough gushing. What was wrong with it? Hmmm. Mostly, the problems come from the marketing. This movie DOES have scary moments, sure. It has nice jump-scares and strange and odd visuals just like the Exorcist. But there isn't anything so effed up and twisted that makes you stop and go "Whu the fu!?!?" Well, not so much that you leave the movie. (See Transporter II entry). This is a dramatic movie. A serious movie. It deals with serious topics such as faith and responsibility and devotion to an ideal and work. It deals with some rather high minded concepts at times and deals with them rather spectacularly. Shame it's being played up like a horror movie in the trailers.
Kind of like how they did Village. I mean, who else expected a monster movie after seeing the trailers for THAT one? Instead, we just got treated to one shitty M. Night flick that had a dumbass ending and not enough scares.
Well, look at that... I managed to sneak in three other reviews into this one. Tee hee. But seriously, I loved this flick and suggest you check it out.
Thank me later.
A friend of mine went into this film expecting it to be "the Exorcist with better effects!"
My expectations were different.
I tried to explain to him what it was about and how it SHOULD follow more of the trial than the actual exorcism. It is NOT a horror movie and shouldn't be. It should take it's subject matter seriously and do its best to play both sides so the viewer can make up their OWN mind. It should basically be Catholic Law & Order. And come on, it had Tom Wilinson and Laura Linney. These are two damn fine actors!! One is better than the other, in my opinion...cough*Oscar winner*cough... but they can both bring their A game to something like this. Granted, the trailers supported HIS expectations more than mine.
But guess what... I think we were BOTH right. The film is genuinely tense and scary. Something the Exorcist never quite did for me. And it was actually COMPELLING. I mean, sure I knew what to expect. Sure I knew many details and most of the generalities of the "Case". But I was still on the edge of my mental seat.
And a LOT of it comes from good ol' Tom. Damn, that boy can act! Anyone remember his brief bit in Batman Begins? That was AWESOME!! And that was a bit part in a comic book movie and that man came in and had some FUN! And did an accent! Sure, he essentially does an accent in Emily Rose but that's more getting RID of his normal one. In BB he takes on a specific american accent and does it rather well, I thought.
Not that Laura Linney is slacking off in this one. She does an excellent job of conveying the lawyer side of her character and the inner debate of faith. You believe her when she's confident and buy it when she isn't. Good job. Sadly, she might be overlooked by the woman who played Emily. Wow. Wow. Some nice work. Some may think she only got the part because of the contortionist-style positions she can force her body into but those fools are ignoring the beautiful job she did ACTING in this thing. And it could've been a thankless role. Please pay attention to her whenever she's onscreen. Seriously, you won't regret it.
Ok, enough gushing. What was wrong with it? Hmmm. Mostly, the problems come from the marketing. This movie DOES have scary moments, sure. It has nice jump-scares and strange and odd visuals just like the Exorcist. But there isn't anything so effed up and twisted that makes you stop and go "Whu the fu!?!?" Well, not so much that you leave the movie. (See Transporter II entry). This is a dramatic movie. A serious movie. It deals with serious topics such as faith and responsibility and devotion to an ideal and work. It deals with some rather high minded concepts at times and deals with them rather spectacularly. Shame it's being played up like a horror movie in the trailers.
Kind of like how they did Village. I mean, who else expected a monster movie after seeing the trailers for THAT one? Instead, we just got treated to one shitty M. Night flick that had a dumbass ending and not enough scares.
Well, look at that... I managed to sneak in three other reviews into this one. Tee hee. But seriously, I loved this flick and suggest you check it out.
Thank me later.
posted by wmjwatson at 8:38 PM
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