Visitors Review

Adam Bushill (2012-05-21 18:44)

kotatsu

I have labeled this review Kotatsu for a good reason, Kotatsu are thoseJapanese tables and just like them this movie is shallow and wooden. Ilove Mila's work and cannot fault her performance in this movie buteverybody else is pretty much terrible. The writing is over simplifiedand under thought out, pop psychology meets Jerry springer. Thetherapist tries to be powerful and dramatic but just comes across likea comic parody. It was really an effort to get through this movie withits awful dialog and annoying music not to mention the makeupdepartment appears to have obtained its facial hair appliances from theplug hole in a hotel shower. The movie used obvious devices to attemptto fool the audience into mistaking one of the main character was thekiller (and occasionally one of the secondary characters), sorry filmmakers, I'm not five years old, I like most of your potential audienceI have seen a great many of these films and I've seen this sleight ofhand/smoke and mirrors stuff before, many times. Not to say that I'mgreat at always spotting the bad guy, far from it, but in this film hemight as well have been wearing a hat with the word "murderer" on it.I'll leave you with one last, unaccountable observation (MILD SPOILER).I'm not geneticist but how likely is it that two people with very darkhair would have a blonde child?!

Robert Collins (2012-05-21 15:33)

Milla once again proves that she is one of the best actresses working today.

After viewing the trailer for this virtually unknown thriller I gotexcited for two reasons, firstly it stars Milla Jovovich who isexceptional in everything and also because the story looked extremelyoriginal, and after viewing, it doesn't disappoint. The story is verydifferent to the usual thriller, a serial killer is stalking women andMilla witnesses one of the murders, the murderer chases her and throwsher over a bridge where she hits her head which causes her to get faceblindness, which in turn prevents her from identifying the killer andalso puts a severe strain on her personal and work life. The subsequentman hunt for the killer is a cracking thrill ride which will keep youon your toes for the entire duration.This movie boasts a knockout performance by Milla Jovovich, she is somuch more than an action star zombie killer, she has a terrific rangeand is able to make any character believable, she is just amazing ineverything I see her in, I do hope she continues to land complex roleslike this one because she is so great and infinitely watchable.The story at times goes off track, towards the end it starts to bringin a romance element which is unnecessary but it's only a minorannoyance, the rest of the movie being great makes up for it. Thesupporting cast are also good, Australia's own Julian McMahon does thetough cop act perfectly, and Marianne Fairhfull does her cool voicething very well. The use of different actors playing the samecharacters was definitely a smart move for this movie, it adds a lot tothe whole face blindness element, the director could have been cheapand used cgi to augment people's faces but he doesn't and it's betterthat way.Face Blindness is a disease I have never heard of before, I don't knowIf it's even a real disease but my god it sounds scary, it would trulybe a life ruining debilitation. So if you love Milla Jovovich, lovethrillers or just after something highly original, check this out.Enjoy.

Lloyd Bayer (2012-05-21 01:48)

Not quite done...

I have mixed reactions after watching this movie. In some ways, themovie has exceeded my expectations, but then lets it down again andagain.On the positive side, there hasn't been a good whodunit murder mysteryin a long time. Taking that into consideration, this movie is a welcomechange and even starts of as a good murder mystery. Another welcomechange is having Milla Jovovich in a more meaningful role as comparedto her heroic association with the "Resident Evil" franchise. As AnnaMerchant, Jovovich is a primary school teacher who witnesses a horrificmurder after a night out with her friends. Dubbed "Tearjerk Jack" forviolating women after killing them and then weeping over their lifelessbodies, the serial killer chases Anna until she falls off a bridge. Twoweeks later, Anna wakes up in a hospital with a rare condition known asProsopagnosia or Face Blindness where her ability to recognize faces isimpaired. The disorder becomes an ordeal when she can no longerrecognize her friends, the children she teaches and even people closeto her like her father. After therapy, Anna realizes that FaceBlindness is a serious disorder unless she learns to cope with it. Inthe process, she gets close to detective Kerrest (Julian McMahon) andlearns that the serial killer is still at large. Worse, the killerknows of her condition and is now closing in to finish the job. Written and directed by Julian Magnat, the concept is almost originaland suffices as a thriller. Anna's confusion is actually felt becauseMagnat uses an average of 3 to 4 actors for each character in themovie. Anna's boyfriend Bryce, played by Michael Shanks, is also playedby about 10 other actors. This premise works to some extant by placingthe audience in Anna's perspective and each time we see differentfaces. Prosopagnosia is an actual disorder and portraying it in thismovie is a definite tick mark for Magnat. Then it all goes downhill.The rest of the movie becomes so clichéd, it gets to be annoyinglypredictable. With most whodunits, the audience is always introduced tothe killer, sometimes very early in the plot, before unveiling who thekiller is. With this movie, Magnat does the same, but places the killerin easy reach of Anna. So why then should we wait till the end of themovie for the killer to strike? Obviously because the film has to bemade with a minimum runtime of 100 minutes! But it doesn't stop there.The ending has to be the mother of all clichés when Anna cannot tellthe difference between the hero and the killer because they wear thesame clothes. Another negative aspect is the unnecessary romance thrownin. In all of this mess, Anna is romantically inclined to onecharacter, who happens to have the only face she can recognize. Gofigure! For a thriller, Milla Jovovich is not bad as the lead character. No wayis she getting anywhere near an Oscar for her performance here, but herportrayal is definitely better than some of her other releases. I can'treally say much about the other actors as there are various actors thatkeep switching each time Anna encounters another character. Since thisis Magnat's second foray as director and first as screenwriter, I don'twant to be too harsh on the outcome. As a learning curve, if he hadpaid a little more attention to the plot and it's execution in thefinal act, this could have been a master thriller.Watch it if you have to, but on a lazy day. As an alternative, Irecommend 1992's "Blink", a similar concept but with a better finish,starring the lovely Madeleine Stowe.

Bogdan Teculet (2012-05-20 15:11)

A face you cannot forget

This movie it's like a Jamie Oliver well prepared dish. It has lots offlavors, it's very spicy, the action scenes, dough sometimes repeatedobsessively, are mind blowing and keeps you focused and in search forclues all the time. Another good thing is that, in contrary to otherserial-killer type movies, you don't realize exactly who is the badguy, in this case "Tear-Jerked Jack", until in the last part - 10,15minutes I believe. It also have an original idea using a real conditioncalled Prosopagnosia which actually exists in real life, and builds agreat movie using Milla's Jovovich charisma and talent to create athriller by definition. You can ask yourself how many of us don'tsuffer from this condition and go to different social gatherings werepossibly dangerous people might be. Definitely a good movie!

mdnobles19 (2012-05-19 07:20)

No fresh visions here but watchable

An decent, suspenseful whodunit with exceptional performancesespecially from the solid lead actress Milla Jovanovich who takes abreak from fighting zombies for once and takes a stab at thispsychological thriller. The film takes the route of films like Blink,Dressed To Kill, Copycat, Eyes Of Laura Mars and Hideaway but a littleless brutal and more pedestrian but still kept me intrigued and on theedge of my seat figuring out who is the killer. It has minor jumpscares here and there but the premise probably looked more terrifyingon paper than it really ends up being on screen but it has it's momentsbut just didn't take risks the kind that lifetime movies of the weekdon't take but it's definitely better looking and polished. The film asa whole was just too easy of a watch and never was it downrightgripping enough to be memorable but just good enough to feel good aboutpicking to watch it and I appreciate the classic approach but thesedays you need to up the game to make a lasting impression and this didnot. Overall it's a likable thriller with a pretty happy ending thatgot the job done but didn't really breakaway to cause much of a stirwith it's audience but Milla made a great effort and is alwaysmesmerizing to watch and this is one of her better performances. Wortha watch. 6.4 out of 10

Bart Bart (2012-05-18 19:55)

Watch it at 2Pm on a rainy Sunday

***This doesn't have spoilers just vague spoilers***where to start with this review, I knew what I was getting into whenyou start a Milla Jovovich movie, though popular (only by looks and adecent actor) she performs in terrible movies her last good ones wereprobably "Fifth element", "the messenger" and "Zoolander" other thenthat the rest of her movies are quite bad. This is another one. Its supposed to be a crime drama but honestly if you're payingattention you're going to find out who the killer is half way throughthe movie. The whole movie I'm screaming "Its that person! Its thatperson!" This movie doesn't try to be funny or comical or witty itsincredibly bland though some what dramatic at times. Milla Jovovichcharacter was a terrible love interest their was no chemistry at allbetween the two, they were together for maybe 3 days "movie time" andwere expected to care about what happens to them as a couple, its cornyhow over dramatized it is. This movie is boring, honestly I doubt ifeven me writing this review is even worth my time. I'm just trying tosave you time and say skip this one and watch it at 2pm on a rainySunday if you have nothing better to do.

cmoyton (2012-05-17 23:37)

Tie Rack

And here we have a competitor against Dream House for this years worst.Some folks seem blinded in their adulation for Milla Jovovich to reallyreview this movie objectively. Here, let me help you, its a turkey witha capital T. Jovovich does actually make an effort but in this she isalone as the supporting cast are as bland as rice paper. The directormust take some responsibility as something more substantial could havebeen made from the face blindness premise but the direction ispedestrian and as a result the movie lacks any tension or excitement.As in many serial killer/detective/witness combos the witness anddetective end up in each others arms but in reference to theaforementioned "witness", Harrison Ford and Kelly Mcgillis they ain't.Special mention goes out to Julian McMahon who plays the detective inquestion as he brings balsa wood acting to a new low level. Forgetabout Body of Evidence or The Specialist as Faces in the Crowd winshands down for the unsexiest movie romance ever. There's more chemistryin a test tube. Marianne Faithful is wheeled out from cold storage inthe role of some expert on something or other to offer her (stating theobvious) pearls of wisdom to help Milla overcome her affliction.Jovovich's character also has a couple of would you ever date cougargirlfriends, one of whom gets slain by the killer(unfortunately not the"Chica" one). Thankfully we are spared the rain drenched graveyardscene with the cops standing by the trees and the killer watching inthe background. Next time out can someone please provide Milla with a pepper spray thatactually works, but at least she had a cell phone that worked underground.

j-pc-birchall (2012-05-17 14:45)

Progressively Irritating...

The only thing this film has going for it is the aesthetic beauty ofits lead actress and the initial shock that the NIP/TUCK guy is nolonger as pimping as one initially thought.Progressively intolerable, irritating and violates one's common senseto a point that one wishes the DVD exploded after 30 minutes.Specifically, the director bypassed the fact that the woman actuallyhas EARS. Furthermore, she is devoid of any oxytocin molecules grantingher the ability to fall in and out of love quicker than a back streethooker.However - The continuous switching of actors to convey the progenitorscondition was interesting. It gave a sense of what it may be like tohave such a disorder. This became the bones of the film and was indeeda suitable platform for the intended story line.

dusan-22 (2012-05-17 06:07)

Pretty lame

I wouldn't put a comment on such mediocre movie if I didn't see somevery positive reviews so I wanted to post mine as well as it is veryopposite. First of all the movie is a thriller stereotype made inHollywood and the only thing that supposed to make it different is thatextraordinary disorder of a main character. However, it didn't helpmuch. First of all, using the camera as her point of view brings a lotof confusion to the watcher. Director probably has forgotten that movieinsight of the main character and one of the watcher are two completelydifferent things and cannot be the same. Main character in the movie isfictional and can tolerate fictional insight but we the watchers arereal and we need real insight to follow the action. On the other hand,movie has just several characters totally so it is pretty easy to guesswho the killer is or should I say you can't miss. What I also foundpretty irritating is pretty bad acting of Mila Jovovic. All in all,don't bother if you ask me.

arief_spekta (2012-05-16 21:10)

Enjoyable to watch this movie!

Milla Jovovich is my favorite artist. I love it when Milla Jovovichappear in a new movie with a horror-thriller gender (although in myopinion this is not gender horror). This movie reminds me of a similarfilm that has a dementia disease. But it is rather strange, because ofblindness in the face of foreign sounding in my ears. however, thismovie still I can enjoy until the end. I feel this movie could thumbsup for Milla's acting and acting-acting any other actor.Grooves that are easily digested making me give rating 8. This moviecan bring me to feel the 'disease' is in misery. It is unfortunate,because the main killers easily guess (though this movie is not gendermystery). But again, I liked this movie.

KiTech (2012-05-12 19:53)

It's all been said: interesting premise, horrible execution

'Faces in the crowd' is the kind of movie that had a great shot atbecoming a great brain-twister in the vein of 'Memento', but it totallyblew it. Prosopagnosia, practically the main character in the movie, isa medical condition leading to so-called face-blindness. In other words- you can't recognise people's faces. All the clichés that come to mindfirst have been used in this movie - a serial killer masquerading asthe protagonist's loved one, a final fight in which the protagonistcan't tell the villain apart from her saviour, the one man whose facesticks to her memory becomes her new lover. The romance part is SOcheesy and SO predictive and on top of everything it has completely nodepth, so when in the final scene she suddenly pops out (SPOILER) 'Ilove you' even a 5-year-old doesn't believe her. The movie is full ofpoor attempts at foreshadowing (the tiny town with a kindergarten ofonly a couple of pupils - i mean, come ooon), tacky Hollywood-typescenes (the final scene in the rain comes to mind immediately),stereotypes (Milla's female friends) and stale acting. To sum up - ifyou value your time, keep away from this movie.

Kate (2012-05-12 11:20)

Interesting premise, poorly done

It was an interesting premise, losing facial recognition, and couldhave been a really good story line, but overall it was very poorlywritten and executed. Too many situations were forced, made to fit themovie rather than actually being a realistic part of the story-line.And the main characters made really poor decisions multiple timesthroughout the movie - the ones that make you think "really? comeon..." The characters that played Bryce all looked similar, so I hadtrouble telling them apart - maybe I've lost facial recognition too.Overall it was pretty hokey - a definite B-movie thriller. I wouldthough like to see a good movie with the same premise.

bsevingen (2012-05-12 08:43)

Think about the casting while you watch

We don't get to watch many thrillers lately so I was hopeful about thismovie. It was actually satisfactory enough, the changing faces of thesupporting cast was fun and sufficient to emphasize with Milla'scharacter. If this was a bigger budget movie, it would be delightful tohave some of these faces by more recognizable character actorsdepending on the situation and her disposition towards them. As it was,the film was more like a procession of many extras (note thecollaboration of 4-5 studios). For some weird reason I expected andhoped she would at some point see Philip Seymour Hoffman as herhusband, Luiz Guzman as the cop, Eric Roberts as Lanyon, but of coursethat didn't happen :) I agree with others that the love affair lookedsuperficial and lacking chemistry, but just think (after watching thefilm) how it would be elevated by a clever and ambitious casting ofsupporting actors.On the downside, the suspense level was not really high and the filmnever came close to being chilling. It could have been a much morecaptivating thriller. Sometimes the story of the killer was almost asub-plot and it was her prognosis that was at the forefront, I guessMilla preferred it that way for having more opportunity to display herserious acting skills. My alternative would be to have more scenes withLanyon and also more innovative stalking by the Lurker. That way theaudience would engage better in making guesses about the killer'sidentity and could actually still be amazed by a clever twist at theend.Here is a diversion about the leading actor (well, the movie becamerather dull enough times to give me an opportunity to amuse myself byreflecting on her career). I think Milla is cleverly changing gear, sheis very positively stuck in my mind with the Fifth Element (that waswhen Bruce Willis was a dashing action star) and I noted her acting inthe Million Dollar Hotel as well as her portrayal of Jean Darc. Whenyou come to think of it, she has a remarkably diverse and richfilmography with leading roles in major films while she was very young.Overall however, her last ten years went largely unnoticed by peoplewho are not into resident evil, so now she has the chance to make are-entry as a fresh face who happens to have a lot of actingexperience. In the next few years she could aptly make her mark as thelead actress of noirs and thrillers (a role played by Kim Basinger andMichelle Pheiffer in the last decade).To sum up, an entertaining and somewhat original movie whichunfortunately is not intellectually challenging. Watch it, but withrealistic expectations.

Girish Winchester (2012-05-11 20:14)

If only this was better executed!

Anna Marchant (Milla Jovovich) is primary school teacher who haseverything one could need; a loving boyfriend and basically a goodlife. One day, on her way home she witnesses the murder of a woman. Theperpetrator turns out to be the notorious serial killer - "TearjerkJack/Killer" who cries over the dead women he has killed. He noticesAnna and attacks her. During the scuffle, Anna tips over the railingsand falls into the river while hitting her head and suffering aconcussion. When she wakes up in the hospital, she can no longerrecognize her friends faces. No face looks the same to her twice. Shesuffers from a real-life medical problem 'face blindness' and can'teven recognize her own self in the mirror. The real horrifying part isthat the killer is after her as she has seen his face. But Anna cannotdefend herself since she has no idea what anybody really look like.'Faces in the Crowd' had a highly intriguing premise which wasn'treally exploited. When one loses the ability to recognize faces, theirlife will be in turmoil naturally. Add a serial killer into the fray,you have a hot potboiler of a tale to tell. The film starts out with abang, but then whimpers and limps to the end. Well, the ending wasn'treally dreadful. But still the writing was far too uninspired, whilethe direction didn't add anything to help it. Of all the othercharacters, I found the woman doctor to be highly annoying. She givesphilosophical answers to difficult questions. I suspected who theserial killer would be halfway through the movie and it turned out Iwas right. Its bit of a cliché actually. I know many disagree with meon this, but I have to say Milla Jovovich is a fantastic actress andthis movie actually proved it. She gives one of the best actingperformances of her life even though the writing was lackluster. Shewas the sole shining gem in this movie and made it worth watching. ButI wouldn't recommend this movie to anybody unless you really love MillaJovovich.5/10

BOOGIEMAN-pN (2012-05-08 07:21)

Feces onto crowd

Story: After accidental encounter with serial killer, while trying torun away from him, girl (Milla Jovovich) smacks her head badly and endsup with a brain condition known as prosopagnosia = face blindness (it'sreal, google it up if you want to know more). In this movie, it ispresented like - she can distinguish human faces while they are in hersight - but when they walk away and reappear, same people lookdifferent every time. Now, to make the story interesting, killer findsout about this poor girl's brain defect, and starts harassing her.What seemed to be thrilling slasher at the beginning, somewhere at themiddle loses it's orientation and becomes just another movie you can'twait to get over with. Instead of action, you'll have to watch Millagoing to various therapists, subjects to hypnosis and other boringstuff. No scares, no suspense, no blood, no Wes Craven's Scream-likechase scenes. Pity, because I think story had a great potential. Idon't say this movie is bad as you might think from my (trying to bewitty) review title ... but, it's nothing more than an averagethriller.

TxMike (2012-05-07 12:56)

Woman is injured and suffers from "face blindness."

Your personal rating for this movie depends a lot of why and how youwatch it. For the rather simple underlying story, about a serialkiller, it isn't that good. But for how it depicts "face blindness" andhow one might learn to overcome that handicap, it is pretty good. Ienjoyed it. Milla Jovovich is teacher Anna Marchant. As the story opens we see thatshe in fact has a very keen memory, for both names and faces. But oneevening after meeting her friend she is walking on a bridge closed formaintenance and she spots a crime in progress, the serial killer isupon his latest victim. She sees him, but trying to get away falls intothe river, hitting her head in the process. In a coma for several days,she wakes up with "face blindness", the inability to distinguishsubtelties that allow us to recognize a particular face from thethousands we have seen.Part of the ensuing movie involves police working with her to try torecall the face of the murderer, since she is the only one alive tohave ever seen him. The other part of the story is how she is able torecognize her boyfriend, Bryce, by using clues, such as how he isdressed when he leaves in the morning, what tie he has on, etc.When the scene is from the perspective of the audience, not sufferingfrom face blindness, we always see specific actors playing specificcharacters. But when the scene is through the eyes of Anna, the faceseems to change each time she sees it anew. In fact, in the credits itshowed 15 different actors playing her boyfriend, Bryce. Othercharacters are played by up to 6 or 8 different actors.So, as a crime story, I found it just "so-so", but as a novelty of howface-blindness might affect someone, I found it very interesting, andalso from the movie-making aspect.SPOILERS: Eventually with the help of hypnosis Anna was able topartially recreate a vision of the face, and it turned out to be apoliceman helping the main investigator. She also was eventually ableto return to teaching, in a small community on a nearby island wherethere were very few students.

smeagoly (2012-05-07 10:03)

I mean...really

The idea is nice, but every minute the film goes on you just feelthey're wasting your time. I mean...it's just stupid. I understand that she cannot recognize faces, but what about voices???Even in huge stress one can recognize voices of lovers, friends orfamily. What about style of talking? What about things we share only with our closest people? Couldn't she recognize any of that? It's an offence really and a waste of time. Only plus is MillaJovovich, that's why I voted 3/10. If you really like her, watch it. If not, do not!

M De Storm (2012-05-07 07:33)

Blindness can be a gift as well as a curse

It is of no surprise that Milla is on top form with her acting in thismovie, as she was with "The Fourth Kind", no additional martial arts orbutt kicking's in this feature. The film opens with Anna (Jovovich)leaving a cocktail bar after having a drink with friends, only towitness a horrific murder to which she is chased and cornered by thekiller upon a bridge. Accidentally falling into the freezing cold riverwater below, Anna awakens in the hospital with no memory of theincident leading up to her plunge. This is not the worst of it,however, as she is diagnosed with "Face-Blindness"; a condition whichis rarely (If not impossible) to cure, and which distorts the facialfeatures of everyone that the patient sees day after day. One day itcould be a vague face for a man and woman, the next day a completelydifferent face altogether. This does not help when somewhere out thereis a serial killer taking advantage of your "Face Blindness" condition.For Anna, her condition is being dealt with daily, while for her, sheknows who the serial killer is, but with the "Face Blindness" shewouldn't know if that killer was stood next to her at any given moment.Not long after being released from the hospital Anna becomes distressedin the fact that she is waking up every morning to a different man –but the same Husband.Self-assigned Detective Kerrest (Julian McMahon of Charmed televisionseries) brings in the strange and weirdness of crossover channels as hetakes Anna to the safe haven island of…yeah, Cole Island (Charmed fanswill know that Julian played the character known as Cole in the hit TVseries). Here Anna and Kerrest spend a lot of time together and becomevery close, too, which may or may not help with the case or the findingof the killer.We found "Faces In The Crowd" very well written, thrilling enough tokeep us all guessing on who the real serial killer was, and most ofall, we found the acting more tolerable than first thought – as thereare two actors here, Shanks and McMahon, from television successes –acting alongside such a strong cinema actresses as Milla Jovovich andMarianne Faithful.The condition which Anna has after her accident is emotionally chargedand at the same time sympathised by the viewer (we believe) as shestruggles with the changing faces and the frustration in which shefeels when the voices of friends are there, just not the friendly warmfaces that she has lived to respect and love…not even that of her ownFather.DVD Archive Rating: 8/10

Flow (2012-05-05 03:28)

Original subject? Well it was for me!

OK, the idea of the movie was quite lovely, didn't expect it, neverseen it before therefore I'll have to start with some praises but endit with less enthusiasm sadly. The movie flows nicely, we learn moreabout Anna's condition, some tension building up, we start to suspectone or the other and then, well it becomes quite clear who the killeris. And from that point on, of course, things aren't that interestinganymore considering the fact that the thrill kinda lost its touch.Nevertheless, overall, it is a nice breath of fresh air really, trustme you can do a whole lot worse than this one, just keep in mind it'snot really a horror, more of a thriller with some horror elementsincorporated but few at number. Also, if you liked it, and you probably will, you MUST try "Julia'sEyes"! You can call these 2 movies, step sisters to be honest, in myopinion, the Spanish one wins tho!So, don't waste more time, try it out, try both of them out, nice adderto the gender!

Irishize (2012-05-04 15:10)

A real turkey of a film!

Crikey, but this is bad.Where to start? An already slim plot, stretched so thin it'sridiculous. Quite a few unintentional laugh-out-loud scenes. Lazywriting, *very* predictable bad-guy. It's actually a pity this film wasn't a little bit worse - it's just afew scenes away from being the next "The Room", but the boredom is justtoo much.If you're a *huge* Jovovich fan, maybe, just maybe you can get throughit, but you will be checking your phone/watch/shoe-laces for any morselof entertainment for long periods of this mis-fire!You have been warned!PS What is the deal with films getting tagged as "Horror" these days?Might as well have classified it as "Cookery". Seriously, whocategorised this? Is it a ploy by the studio to recoup their$15,000,000 budget on this turkey?