Considering this film's rather putrid reputation I was pleasantly surprised with it. Or maybe it's because I haven't seen the original. There's a great cast assembled here - Ewan McGregor is all doe-eyed innocence, Josh Brolin unhinged, Patricia Arquette intense, Nick Nolte wizened and charming, Lauren Graham underutilized, Brad Dourif crazed and underused, and John C. Reilly but before he was famous so he doesn't do much.
This is pretty much a shock and awe red herring thriller - with necrophilia and rape and murder of prostitutes. At least Arquette is heavily involved. There's a scene that's either pure genius or tonally mishandled involving the children's song "This Old Man" - it took me so by surprise that it worked for a while, then wore out it's welcome and then became stuck in my head like Stockholm Syndrome. And then in hindsight seemed pretty silly.
Somehow, overall, this worked for me.
This is pretty much a shock and awe red herring thriller - with necrophilia and rape and murder of prostitutes. At least Arquette is heavily involved. There's a scene that's either pure genius or tonally mishandled involving the children's song "This Old Man" - it took me so by surprise that it worked for a while, then wore out it's welcome and then became stuck in my head like Stockholm Syndrome. And then in hindsight seemed pretty silly.
Somehow, overall, this worked for me.