Considering they had the good actors, they had the production and the money to make this film, why, oh why didn't they spend another penny on the writers?
In fact, most of the issues one can have with the movie is the poor and mediocre writing that not only makes no sense and it's filled with plot holes but also seems to disregard the notorious predictability of it all.
Before elaborating on those plot holes, fair is to warn the future viewers that the make-up and special effects department was also something the producers spared every possible expense on.
The main character spends a quarter of the movie with a mask made of bandages all filthy and disarranged and no one in the hospital seems to worry about infection or periodically removing those bandages. The irony is that the cuts and bruises were only on one specific side of the forehead, making the whole thing absurd.
But if cringing is what you're after, just a prolonged look at William Forsythe's obvious rat wig will suffice.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Some points the writers didn't consider thinking over.
1) A John Doe is found in a car accident, but they check the trunk only a few days later in a police procedure totally unrelated to the accident. In fact, the car is in the exact same place and the corpse has just been found. I had to go back in the movie to see if the mummy had walked from the scene, but no. So I suppose someone found him and took him to the hospital, leaving no directions of where the accident happened?
2) No one seems to care about his unknown identity and amnesia and no one thinks it'd be advisable to call the police to take the fingerprints of this guy, which, by the way, would have showed that he is a detective from the very beginning.
3) It may make sense in Narnia, but in the real world no detective would drive around in the countryside (going who the hell knows and why) with a car that carries a corpse, previously driven by the murderer, which was left in the middle of the town, mind you. What would be the point of that?
4) Whose car was this? It all seems to point it was Oliver's car. So the police would just have to run the plates to realize the connection. Seriously!
5) Roger steals a corpse from the morgue, it burns and it passes for Michael. Ok. So no dental tests to confirm if it's really Michael. It's quite clear for us now that the police work in that town leaves a lot to be desired by the tax payers.
6) Michael goes by John because he doesn't remember his own name. But later on, after finding out the whole thing and while being held prisoner by Oliver, the latter addresses him as John. Why on earth would he do that? He knows his name, he doesn't know he has been going under the name of John, etc etc.
7) When we are told the whole story, which we already knew from the very beginning because it was pretty obvious, after Roger's confession to Michael, Michael leaves him with a loaded weapon. If Roger had shot himself before the police arrived, he would have gone through quite the hardship trying to explain who killed Oliver and why and who killed Roger and why, etc. In fact, there's no proof at all of Michael's fake death. For all we know, Michael could have very well been the murderer, faked his own death so as to continue to kill incognito, after having been caught by Oliver or Roger or both, and then staged the murder suicide in Roger's house. Even if forensics proved his innocence, he would have been detained and tried, which would have taken years. The whole thing could be avoided by just taking the weapon with him!!!
8) Of all the hitmans in USA, Roger immediately recognizes the one he hired, duh, but this doesn't strike the other detective as slightly suspicious.
9) Of all the places where the hitman could go, he went to the friend's house, and kills him just because. No questions, nothing. Do we have to presume that he killed the bartender as well or did he just had a one night stand before going to work?
10) The hitman removes the id and licence from the car. But he can't make sure Michael is dead because it was too much to ask.
All in all, it could have been a far more decent movie if the writers had taken more than ten minutes to write this script.
Meyers being the protagonist, due to his good acting and charisma, is the only thing that will keep you from turning the movie off.
In fact, most of the issues one can have with the movie is the poor and mediocre writing that not only makes no sense and it's filled with plot holes but also seems to disregard the notorious predictability of it all.
Before elaborating on those plot holes, fair is to warn the future viewers that the make-up and special effects department was also something the producers spared every possible expense on.
The main character spends a quarter of the movie with a mask made of bandages all filthy and disarranged and no one in the hospital seems to worry about infection or periodically removing those bandages. The irony is that the cuts and bruises were only on one specific side of the forehead, making the whole thing absurd.
But if cringing is what you're after, just a prolonged look at William Forsythe's obvious rat wig will suffice.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Some points the writers didn't consider thinking over.
1) A John Doe is found in a car accident, but they check the trunk only a few days later in a police procedure totally unrelated to the accident. In fact, the car is in the exact same place and the corpse has just been found. I had to go back in the movie to see if the mummy had walked from the scene, but no. So I suppose someone found him and took him to the hospital, leaving no directions of where the accident happened?
2) No one seems to care about his unknown identity and amnesia and no one thinks it'd be advisable to call the police to take the fingerprints of this guy, which, by the way, would have showed that he is a detective from the very beginning.
3) It may make sense in Narnia, but in the real world no detective would drive around in the countryside (going who the hell knows and why) with a car that carries a corpse, previously driven by the murderer, which was left in the middle of the town, mind you. What would be the point of that?
4) Whose car was this? It all seems to point it was Oliver's car. So the police would just have to run the plates to realize the connection. Seriously!
5) Roger steals a corpse from the morgue, it burns and it passes for Michael. Ok. So no dental tests to confirm if it's really Michael. It's quite clear for us now that the police work in that town leaves a lot to be desired by the tax payers.
6) Michael goes by John because he doesn't remember his own name. But later on, after finding out the whole thing and while being held prisoner by Oliver, the latter addresses him as John. Why on earth would he do that? He knows his name, he doesn't know he has been going under the name of John, etc etc.
7) When we are told the whole story, which we already knew from the very beginning because it was pretty obvious, after Roger's confession to Michael, Michael leaves him with a loaded weapon. If Roger had shot himself before the police arrived, he would have gone through quite the hardship trying to explain who killed Oliver and why and who killed Roger and why, etc. In fact, there's no proof at all of Michael's fake death. For all we know, Michael could have very well been the murderer, faked his own death so as to continue to kill incognito, after having been caught by Oliver or Roger or both, and then staged the murder suicide in Roger's house. Even if forensics proved his innocence, he would have been detained and tried, which would have taken years. The whole thing could be avoided by just taking the weapon with him!!!
8) Of all the hitmans in USA, Roger immediately recognizes the one he hired, duh, but this doesn't strike the other detective as slightly suspicious.
9) Of all the places where the hitman could go, he went to the friend's house, and kills him just because. No questions, nothing. Do we have to presume that he killed the bartender as well or did he just had a one night stand before going to work?
10) The hitman removes the id and licence from the car. But he can't make sure Michael is dead because it was too much to ask.
All in all, it could have been a far more decent movie if the writers had taken more than ten minutes to write this script.
Meyers being the protagonist, due to his good acting and charisma, is the only thing that will keep you from turning the movie off.
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