The acting is pretty good from all the characters, but especially Watts. Visually it's oppressive, the sound design sets you on edge, I hated that buzzer ringing over and over and over again for no purpose. But, the script is atrocious!
This film should never have gotten past the proof readers, it is junk. The idea is great, laden with plenty of opportunity and Naomi Watts definitely has it in her talents to give the storytelling exactly what it needs.
I mean, come on, a sweaty lecherous police officer denied his I'll gotten gains by a handheld radio, in the 70's? They might well have had those radios back then but that is a lazy way to resolve a narrative dead end. And this buzzer that keeps ringing with no one on the other end? Just get it repaired for the love of god. And why place so much emphasis on this serial killer if you're going to abandon it completely?
All in all, it should be a lot better, it's still more enjoyable than say, Hugo or The Zero Theorem - but it ranks alongside those for sheer opaqueness.
This film should never have gotten past the proof readers, it is junk. The idea is great, laden with plenty of opportunity and Naomi Watts definitely has it in her talents to give the storytelling exactly what it needs.
I mean, come on, a sweaty lecherous police officer denied his I'll gotten gains by a handheld radio, in the 70's? They might well have had those radios back then but that is a lazy way to resolve a narrative dead end. And this buzzer that keeps ringing with no one on the other end? Just get it repaired for the love of god. And why place so much emphasis on this serial killer if you're going to abandon it completely?
All in all, it should be a lot better, it's still more enjoyable than say, Hugo or The Zero Theorem - but it ranks alongside those for sheer opaqueness.