The middling ratings for this film are pretty much spot on, but that is largely a reflection of the fact that, even though this is a thoroughly "modern" movie with twenty-somethings and the current technological trappings, it's really a storyline that's been around for decades, and truthfully, similar notions have been done better by some really first-rate filmmakers and performers. Still though, I did think this was allright, and worth a single watch, though it's probably not something I'll ever come back to.
As I was watching this, it hit me that I am nearly twice as old as most of the characters in this thing. I was a teen in the 90s when the Internet was just starting to take off. It's really interesting to be caught in the middle here, aware of all the advances and how things are conducted nowadays, but also kind of stuck in that semi-old-school mindset. When I was a teen I remember a lot of telephone dating services being advertised on late night cable and radio, which some of us would occasionally try out for a lark. Some of them were just starting to get super-"modern" by allowing you to send a picture of yourself to someone -- by fax! For real.
Anyway, after this realisation and a slight dawning of horror, I settled down and just let the thing roll over me. It's a "thriller" of sorts, but it's not really that thrilling. Our male protagonist is Harris; he's a creep but, not totally unlikeable -- indeed, a lot of us guys can probably relate to him on many levels even if we don't necessarily approve of all his actions. Those start out, if not exactly innocent, at least understandable to the extent that Harris doesn't feel he's doing anything wrong. Eventually though, a guy who runs his life like this is going to end up running into problems; it's kind of natural-seeming that his first conclusion would be that the woman who doesn't react "normally" to his usual antics is the one responsible for turning his life upside-down. Actually, I felt that the "upside-down" part wasn't that profound -- some of these types of stories really put their characters through hell, and I honestly don't think harris's experience was all that bad. By the end, I felt a lot worse for the poor girl than I did for him, and I do feel that was a part of the filmmakers' intention. Riley's only "crime", after all, was being a bit clingy.
The ending of the film is both appropriate and rather "rushed" feeling. Honestly, it's good that this movie doesn't overstay its welcome -- at 78 minutes it's quite short, and I appreciate this (as the story is really a bit simple-minded), but it's definitely "front-ended". Nevertheless, there's a sad inevitability to proceedings that, while it didn't make for a totally engrossing story, I still found sort of satisfying, though maybe not quite in the way the filmmakers intended. It returns me to the question, posed by many authors over the years, as to whether there is really a "murderous type" -- the conclusion is almost always "no"; anyone could be driven to kill given the right circumstances, even a loser like Harris. There's also something in here about not jumping to the obvious conclusion all of the time, but the film wraps everything up so fast that I'm not sure the point is that effectively made. The movie feels like it isn't 100% confident about whether it wants to be a thriller or not, so when everyone compares it to something like Fatal Attraction, well, of course it's going to fall a bit short.
nevertheless, I thought the performances of the two leads were natural and believable. nobody else really even tried to stand out in this, but that's perfectly ok. It's a fairly tight, economical film that I can't fault all that much for slightly dropping the ball. Worth a watch if it's on or around, though I suspect this one will be forgotten about by most not long after viewing. By the way, the "death by stabbing" at the end was far too easy and quick to be believable. Actually, he seemed in worse shape than she did after being bashed over the head so many times.
As I was watching this, it hit me that I am nearly twice as old as most of the characters in this thing. I was a teen in the 90s when the Internet was just starting to take off. It's really interesting to be caught in the middle here, aware of all the advances and how things are conducted nowadays, but also kind of stuck in that semi-old-school mindset. When I was a teen I remember a lot of telephone dating services being advertised on late night cable and radio, which some of us would occasionally try out for a lark. Some of them were just starting to get super-"modern" by allowing you to send a picture of yourself to someone -- by fax! For real.
Anyway, after this realisation and a slight dawning of horror, I settled down and just let the thing roll over me. It's a "thriller" of sorts, but it's not really that thrilling. Our male protagonist is Harris; he's a creep but, not totally unlikeable -- indeed, a lot of us guys can probably relate to him on many levels even if we don't necessarily approve of all his actions. Those start out, if not exactly innocent, at least understandable to the extent that Harris doesn't feel he's doing anything wrong. Eventually though, a guy who runs his life like this is going to end up running into problems; it's kind of natural-seeming that his first conclusion would be that the woman who doesn't react "normally" to his usual antics is the one responsible for turning his life upside-down. Actually, I felt that the "upside-down" part wasn't that profound -- some of these types of stories really put their characters through hell, and I honestly don't think harris's experience was all that bad. By the end, I felt a lot worse for the poor girl than I did for him, and I do feel that was a part of the filmmakers' intention. Riley's only "crime", after all, was being a bit clingy.
The ending of the film is both appropriate and rather "rushed" feeling. Honestly, it's good that this movie doesn't overstay its welcome -- at 78 minutes it's quite short, and I appreciate this (as the story is really a bit simple-minded), but it's definitely "front-ended". Nevertheless, there's a sad inevitability to proceedings that, while it didn't make for a totally engrossing story, I still found sort of satisfying, though maybe not quite in the way the filmmakers intended. It returns me to the question, posed by many authors over the years, as to whether there is really a "murderous type" -- the conclusion is almost always "no"; anyone could be driven to kill given the right circumstances, even a loser like Harris. There's also something in here about not jumping to the obvious conclusion all of the time, but the film wraps everything up so fast that I'm not sure the point is that effectively made. The movie feels like it isn't 100% confident about whether it wants to be a thriller or not, so when everyone compares it to something like Fatal Attraction, well, of course it's going to fall a bit short.
nevertheless, I thought the performances of the two leads were natural and believable. nobody else really even tried to stand out in this, but that's perfectly ok. It's a fairly tight, economical film that I can't fault all that much for slightly dropping the ball. Worth a watch if it's on or around, though I suspect this one will be forgotten about by most not long after viewing. By the way, the "death by stabbing" at the end was far too easy and quick to be believable. Actually, he seemed in worse shape than she did after being bashed over the head so many times.