Movie Review - Reflections

Reflections

2008

Drimtrim Entertainment / FishCorb Films

Great Movies

5.75 / 10

The film that brought Timothy Hutton to my attention was The Dark Half.  It was his skill at playing both writer and psychological killer which kept my attention.  It's because of this performance that I watched this and his performance here, as the detective chasing a serial killer, pretty much carries the film.

This turns out to be a similar premise to the Stephen King story in the fact that there are twins; one is a man struggling to cope with his life and his brother, a psychotic serial killer.  Unfortunately, Hutton is not playing that role. Miguel Angel Silvestre plays the brothers Marco and Roberto.  This is not a spoiler as this isn't a major plot issue, and is revealed in the first section of the movie.  Writers Darby Parker and Jay Beattie should have used this to at least create a little mystery, tension, and suspense, which would have made the film much better.  Though the film really suffers from Silvestre's under-acting and woodenness.  Each time he spoke all I could see was Jean-Claude Van Damme as he sounds exactly like him.  Even JCVD would've added a bit more panache and power; also the fight scene's would have looked more realistic.

This is a "Columbo" style story.  You're told who the killer is early on and then the story centres on the detective's chase and apprehension of the criminal.  I much prefer the "Miss Marple" whodunnit murder mystery as it has the ability to bring the viewer into the story more.

Another issue with the film is the number of secondary cast members there are.  This is detrimental to the film as it draws the story and the viewer away from the heart and vitality of the story.  There's one scene that should have been critical to Timothy Hutton's character, Tom as he comes face to face with the death of his love.  However, due to the story being stuffed to overflowing with superfluous scenes and characters we never get the time to relate fully to this pair's relationship so we don't feel Tom's loss and anger at that scene.

That said, the rest of the cast are pretty good in their portrayals of their characters.  Director Bryan Goeres keeps the tempo of the film to an average pace.  Once again, I think he could have infused a little suspense and tension by fluctuating the pace accordingly.  If it wasn't for Hutton and the hope for a twist in the ending, as my imagination had conjured up a few, I would've hit the off button.

Then, when the twist comes, it's the obvious one.  Boy did I feel let down, not just because the twist was the most obvious but because the story which led to it could have been improved by better showing the progression to the twist.

If you like Timothy Hutton or "Columbo" style movies then you may like this but don't expect too much from it.  Otherwise, I would say, stay away.