I am giving this film a very weak 7. The high marks come solely for the ability to move this film along as it heads toward its obvious conclusion. Without saying more than this as a "spoiler" - it's probably much better if you haven't seen the much better films "Lost Highway" made just 3 years before this film and "The Machinist" which came out just 4 years later.
The real problem with this film is that, as opposed to the other 2, this is mostly a creepy story line that doesn't really provide the reveal of introspective thought that the others do. You don't really know much about Jeff Daniels' character other than the bare minimum, which isn't really the point of this story. It's about him. And yet the film, which features him on screen virtually 95% of the time, doesn't provide a whole lot.
There are some strange displays of character behavior that are not in line with what one would expect. Daniels' character does not explain the nature of his issue to his employer and why he is staying home. Why not? Didn't sell me on it. The rest was mostly just filler to pass time until the reveal ending.
Jeff Daniels was fantastic. The supporting cast was very good even though they weren't given the best of direction with an intent on being slightly creepy for the sake of it, e.g. people showing up too soon or quickly.
And in spite of all the great work, this film goes nowhere, explores nothing and is just 2 hours of mood and creep. And Lynch did it much better if you're looking for just story and Bale did it much better if you're looking for something introspective and much more clever.
I'd give this a 6 but it will entertain... until you hit the abrupt, seemingly amateurish ending.
The real problem with this film is that, as opposed to the other 2, this is mostly a creepy story line that doesn't really provide the reveal of introspective thought that the others do. You don't really know much about Jeff Daniels' character other than the bare minimum, which isn't really the point of this story. It's about him. And yet the film, which features him on screen virtually 95% of the time, doesn't provide a whole lot.
There are some strange displays of character behavior that are not in line with what one would expect. Daniels' character does not explain the nature of his issue to his employer and why he is staying home. Why not? Didn't sell me on it. The rest was mostly just filler to pass time until the reveal ending.
Jeff Daniels was fantastic. The supporting cast was very good even though they weren't given the best of direction with an intent on being slightly creepy for the sake of it, e.g. people showing up too soon or quickly.
And in spite of all the great work, this film goes nowhere, explores nothing and is just 2 hours of mood and creep. And Lynch did it much better if you're looking for just story and Bale did it much better if you're looking for something introspective and much more clever.
I'd give this a 6 but it will entertain... until you hit the abrupt, seemingly amateurish ending.