If you watch Impulse, you'll gain a new respect for Angus MacFayden because he seems to be the only one involved that appreciated what a laughably silly movie it is.
Claire Dennison (Willa Ford) is the head of her own advertising firm. That doesn't actually have anything to do with this story, but I think the filmmakers give the character a position of authority and achievement to distract the audience from how stupidly she behaves. Claire is married to Jonathan (Angus MacFayden), a plump, passionless and much older psychologist who overthinks everything. The romantic spark has gone out of their marriage to the point where Jonathan worries more about what he's got cooking on the stove than his lingerie-clad wife who is trying to seduce him. Then, when Claire is out of town for a meeting, she sees Jonathan show up in the hotel bar, pretending to be a mysterious stranger looking to ravish her. They have sex, during which Willa Ford keeps her bra on and the fireplug-like MacFayden thankfully keeps his shirt on. They repeat the role-playing when Claire is out of town again but the next morning, Claire gets a call on her cell phone from her husband who's still back home. It turns out the man she's slept with wasn't Jonathan pretending to be someone else. It was someone else who just happens to look exactly like Jonathan.
You can probably guess where the story goes from there. The other guy, named Simon Philips, becomes obsessed with Claire. He pursues her, stalks her and when he finds out he and Jonathan are dopplegangers, he cooks up a plan to switch places with Jonathan without Claire knowing the difference. Jonathan ends up having to escape a mental ward and fight Simon, with Claire having to decide which of the identical men she should shoot.
I think I can sum up the essential nature of Impulse by pointing out the movie doesn't use any of that new fangled computer technology to let one actor play two identical characters. No, writer/director Charles T. Kanganis relies on the exact same camera and editing tricks pioneered more than few decades ago by The Patty Duke Show. When you're making a film in the 21st century and it's no more sophisticated than "It's cousins! Identical cousins, come what may!" you really ought to stop and wonder if there isn't something else you should be doing with your time.
Willa Ford looks good nude but has only an average-looking face. She does display a nice personality and you'll mistake that for actual acting talent at the start of Impulse. As the story goes along and her performance gets worse and worse and worse, you'll realize that "reality show host" is what Ford is best suited for. In fairness to Ford, though, Impulse is so poorly written and generically directed that her lack of skill isn't that noticeable.
The only noteworthy thing about Impulse is the game that MacFayden appears to be playing with the filmmakers. Kanganis clearly thinks he's making some sort of serious thriller, but MacFayden's acting as both Johnathan and Simon is closer to spoof or parody territory. It's like MacFayden went through the entire production trying to see just how much he could ham it up without anyone recognizing that he was making fun of how ridiculous the movie is. His acting isn't so over-the-top that it completely clashes with the dramatic tone of everything else, but every once in a while it's as though MacFayden is winking at the audience and saying "Yeah, I know this movie sucks. I didn't get paid that much for Braveheart and need the money."
If you'd like to see Willa Ford naked or see an actor get away with mocking a film without the director or the producers noticing what he's doing, rent Impulse. Otherwise, you'll probably be better off renting one of the billion or so erotic thrillers made by Shannon Tweed in the 90s.
Claire Dennison (Willa Ford) is the head of her own advertising firm. That doesn't actually have anything to do with this story, but I think the filmmakers give the character a position of authority and achievement to distract the audience from how stupidly she behaves. Claire is married to Jonathan (Angus MacFayden), a plump, passionless and much older psychologist who overthinks everything. The romantic spark has gone out of their marriage to the point where Jonathan worries more about what he's got cooking on the stove than his lingerie-clad wife who is trying to seduce him. Then, when Claire is out of town for a meeting, she sees Jonathan show up in the hotel bar, pretending to be a mysterious stranger looking to ravish her. They have sex, during which Willa Ford keeps her bra on and the fireplug-like MacFayden thankfully keeps his shirt on. They repeat the role-playing when Claire is out of town again but the next morning, Claire gets a call on her cell phone from her husband who's still back home. It turns out the man she's slept with wasn't Jonathan pretending to be someone else. It was someone else who just happens to look exactly like Jonathan.
You can probably guess where the story goes from there. The other guy, named Simon Philips, becomes obsessed with Claire. He pursues her, stalks her and when he finds out he and Jonathan are dopplegangers, he cooks up a plan to switch places with Jonathan without Claire knowing the difference. Jonathan ends up having to escape a mental ward and fight Simon, with Claire having to decide which of the identical men she should shoot.
I think I can sum up the essential nature of Impulse by pointing out the movie doesn't use any of that new fangled computer technology to let one actor play two identical characters. No, writer/director Charles T. Kanganis relies on the exact same camera and editing tricks pioneered more than few decades ago by The Patty Duke Show. When you're making a film in the 21st century and it's no more sophisticated than "It's cousins! Identical cousins, come what may!" you really ought to stop and wonder if there isn't something else you should be doing with your time.
Willa Ford looks good nude but has only an average-looking face. She does display a nice personality and you'll mistake that for actual acting talent at the start of Impulse. As the story goes along and her performance gets worse and worse and worse, you'll realize that "reality show host" is what Ford is best suited for. In fairness to Ford, though, Impulse is so poorly written and generically directed that her lack of skill isn't that noticeable.
The only noteworthy thing about Impulse is the game that MacFayden appears to be playing with the filmmakers. Kanganis clearly thinks he's making some sort of serious thriller, but MacFayden's acting as both Johnathan and Simon is closer to spoof or parody territory. It's like MacFayden went through the entire production trying to see just how much he could ham it up without anyone recognizing that he was making fun of how ridiculous the movie is. His acting isn't so over-the-top that it completely clashes with the dramatic tone of everything else, but every once in a while it's as though MacFayden is winking at the audience and saying "Yeah, I know this movie sucks. I didn't get paid that much for Braveheart and need the money."
If you'd like to see Willa Ford naked or see an actor get away with mocking a film without the director or the producers noticing what he's doing, rent Impulse. Otherwise, you'll probably be better off renting one of the billion or so erotic thrillers made by Shannon Tweed in the 90s.
