The Invisible (D or 1/4 stars)
'The Invisible' is a supernatural mystery, adapted from a Swedish novel, & directed by David S. Goyer. A teenage guy finds himself trapped btwn. the worlds of the living & of the dead. At it's core, it's a character study of 2 similar human beings who, upon initial perception, thought they were polar opposites. But ... it's hard to like a movie that offers 2 highly unlikeable lead characters. And while there's a glimmer of hope near the end, the movie still fails on almost all levels.
Nicholas (Justin Chatwin, War of the Worlds) is a privileged teen who's emotionally vapid since losing his dad; he lives with his cold mother (Marcia Gay Harden). Annie (Margarita Levieva) is a troubled teen who attends school with him. When she thinks that he has ratted her out to the police (for stealing), she beats him to a pulp. Left to die ... Nicholas' spirit (yes, as in ghost) tries to help authorities find his comatose body before all the life drains out of him.
There are some interesting visuals throughout the film: not knowing he's 'dead' yet, he goes to school & can't understand why his classmates/teachers can't see or hear him. He throws things across a room while his bereft mother is present, but she notices nothing, etc. Urgent to discover the mystery behind his beating, & how Annie could do such a thing, Nicholas embarks on a slow, tumultuous emotional journey of self-discovery, understanding, & realization that although he was mauled by this girl, they actually have quite similar backgrounds. Annie was abused as a child, & has lost her mom. Nicholas' mom shows little interest in him (for a good reason), & he's lost his dad. Inexplicably, this parallel, of sorts, makes an almost-dead-Nick start to have feelings for the girl who's potentially killed him!!!
I'm sorry; that late-breaking plot point (plus my STRONG dislike of Nick & Annie) put the nail in the coffin for me. She is flat-out nasty, & he comes off as a constantly-annoyed-dick (pardon the term). His revelations & the convoluted plotline makes this a ridiculous film. As mentioned, there are a few poignant moments near the end, but all it did was vault my rating from D- to D, big whoop. The film is too introspective to be liked by the masses (and it doesn't allow for enough reason to care, tension, etc.). Because of this, I was often bored. The movie comes close to being philosophically provocative, but it just never gets there.
Nicholas (Justin Chatwin, War of the Worlds) is a privileged teen who's emotionally vapid since losing his dad; he lives with his cold mother (Marcia Gay Harden). Annie (Margarita Levieva) is a troubled teen who attends school with him. When she thinks that he has ratted her out to the police (for stealing), she beats him to a pulp. Left to die ... Nicholas' spirit (yes, as in ghost) tries to help authorities find his comatose body before all the life drains out of him.
There are some interesting visuals throughout the film: not knowing he's 'dead' yet, he goes to school & can't understand why his classmates/teachers can't see or hear him. He throws things across a room while his bereft mother is present, but she notices nothing, etc. Urgent to discover the mystery behind his beating, & how Annie could do such a thing, Nicholas embarks on a slow, tumultuous emotional journey of self-discovery, understanding, & realization that although he was mauled by this girl, they actually have quite similar backgrounds. Annie was abused as a child, & has lost her mom. Nicholas' mom shows little interest in him (for a good reason), & he's lost his dad. Inexplicably, this parallel, of sorts, makes an almost-dead-Nick start to have feelings for the girl who's potentially killed him!!!
I'm sorry; that late-breaking plot point (plus my STRONG dislike of Nick & Annie) put the nail in the coffin for me. She is flat-out nasty, & he comes off as a constantly-annoyed-dick (pardon the term). His revelations & the convoluted plotline makes this a ridiculous film. As mentioned, there are a few poignant moments near the end, but all it did was vault my rating from D- to D, big whoop. The film is too introspective to be liked by the masses (and it doesn't allow for enough reason to care, tension, etc.). Because of this, I was often bored. The movie comes close to being philosophically provocative, but it just never gets there.