Beautiful film starlet Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey) is one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood, and is the object of Nick Chambers' (Elijah Wood) affections. Nick runs a fan website devoted to Jill. Lucky for Nick he has just won a contest to meet Jill in Austin, TX. As Nick sits in his hotel room awaiting his dinner date with Jill he is watching a webcast of a press conference with Jill to promote her new movie. Nick is contacted by a man named Chord (Neil Maskell) who claims to be Jill's manager as the press conference is happening live. Chord informs Nick that Jill has decided not to meet him. Nick is disappointed and angry, but Chord has another way Nick can meet Jill
All Nick has to do is perform a series of tasks for Chord. Open Windows is a Spanish-American production from writer / director Nacho Vigalondo. The film is told through a series of different browser windows on a computer screen where the characters are being manipulated by the mysterious Chord. Chord draws Nick into his game by allowing Nick to get "special access" to Jill by tapping her smart phone and manipulating a liaison for Jill and her boyfriend to take place at hotel Nick is staying at so Nick can watch. After Nick is caught peeping into their room by Jill's boyfriend Tony, Chord manipulates Nick into attacking Tony which is all Chord needs to trap Nick into doing whatever he wants. A pointless sub plot of the film involves a group of French hackers who are online watching all of Nick's moves who Nick tries to recruit into stopping Chord and his evil plot. THE VERDICT: While the movie starts off well introducing the characters and their motivations, the gimmick of seeing these characters evolve through various browser windows on a screen gets old fast. Midway through the second act of the film the introduction of the French Hackers adds a hackey and pointless element to the film that distracts from the central plot themes. While the film initially starts off showing the dangers of the networked online lives that we all live these days it ends up the same by the numbers territory that all of these movies end up in. Open Windows might make for an interesting DVD release, it certainly isn't worth a trip to the theater.
Review of Open Windows
