The plot of “Gothika” is a ripped-off twist between “The Sixth Sense” and the Hannibal Lecter series. That is to say, the movie is basically twisted sexual perversions and someone who sees ghosts.
I like to start out reviews by saying something reasonably positive about the movies I see.
So here goes – the producers of “Gothika” did a fine job on the sound editing.
Seriously, don’t go see this movie.
Halle Berry gives a decent performance, but it was hard to tell from the hackneyed lines she was reading.
Penelope Cruz was suitably insane for a patient in a mental hospital, and Robert Downey, Jr. was certainly, umm, well, he was certainly in the film.
Point is, not too much good can be said about the film.
My biggest frustration in watching the movie was that too much of what happens gets telegraphed.
When someone seems pretty evil, it’s a sure sign they are going to wind up being evil. Which I guess amounts to, “the characters lack depth.”
Since there are a number of twists and turns, I won’t reveal too much of this ludicrous plot-line, but the trailers do give a good set up.
Miranda Grey is a psychiatrist at a mental facility.
Then one day, when driving home, she swerves off the road, sees a girl and wakes up in a cell.
She is told that she killed her husband.
Downey, Jr. is her psychiatrist. This makes perfect sense, since they were good friends, and everyone knows that psychiatrists are supposed to treat their friends. I think they made up some flimsy reason why he was treating her in the movie. Point is, I didn’t care enough to listen to what was being said. Because the movie was bad.
I hope that I have made clear by now, that no one should go see this movie.
Even if you’re madly in love with Berry, you’d be better off renting “Monster’s Ball” or even “X-Men.”
If it seems like I am coming down a little hard on this movie, that’s because it had some potential.
The idea itself wasn’t bad, just every individual element of the film’s execution.
Now, I saw this film at an advanced screening, which meant that it was free. If you get the chance to see this movie for free, maybe you should look into it.
The problem with watching movies at free screenings is that, well, if you don’t pay to see a movie, you feel less bad about talking really loud and disturbing everyone.
Which, in this particular case wasn’t a huge problem, because the people sitting around me were much more interesting than the movie itself.
Powell can be reached at lpowell@campustimes.org.
