Review of Spin

Spin (2007)
6/10
Not So Funny but Somewhat Suspenseful as Katie Cassidy Shines and Amber Heard Grips with Her Brief Presence.
7 September 2022
Can I just, first of all, mention just how hard finding this movie online is? I mean, it's virtually almost non-existent anywhere and I had to dig deep and wide to find a copy of it. If you're searching for a copy of the movie, one hint that I'm sure will benefit you a lot in your searches is to remember that it seems to go by the 'You Are Here' title in most places than it does by the 'Spin' title - and 'You Are Here' does seem to be a more fitting title than does 'Spin' by the way. Also important to note is that the movie exists in multiple copies of varying lengths. Ultimately, I managed to get and watch a copy that is 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 51 seconds long.

That said, I'm not sure that the effort I put in to find a copy of the movie was well worth it from the perspective of the movie as a whole. This is because while it aspires to be a comedy, it's more or less a hit and miss situation when it comes to actually making you laugh. Indeed, most of its "comedic" moments fail to deliver either due to their blandness and/or unnecessary exaggeration or due to their being clichés. I did however enjoy its vignette format and the suspense that it raised and managed to maintain for most of it although the ending was, to say the least, unclimactic.

About the performances, most of them were either average or below average. Notable exceptions to this were the performances by Katie Cassidy (playing Apple) and Lauren German (playing Cassie). Focusing on Cassidy particularly, her portrayal of a confused and somewhat stressed and lonely Apple is golden in its authenticity, emotional presence, and grip. It harkens to Cassidy's memorable performances in some horror notables like When a Stranger Calls (2006), Black Christmas (2006), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), and Kill For Me (2013).

Besides Katie Cassidy and Lauren German, Amber Heard's brief appearances in two scenes is also noteworthy. She plays Amber, a former actress and the wife of Tony Russo (Michael Biehn), a hitman for a drug cartel. In the two scenes in which Amber appears, it is clear that Tony has been cheating on her. As such, she decides to do the same to him. While these appearances by Amber Heard are too brief to make firm judgments about her performance, the energy and presence that she displays while she's on camera leave no doubt that she would have done a better job than other performers were she given a more primary role in the movie. So, and as I have felt watching some other early roles of Heard's - such as in the pilot episode of Jack & Bobby (2004), in SideFX (2004), and in Friday Night Lights (2004) - I cannot help but lament at how under-utilized her talent was in this movie. I think, for instance, that she would have made a much better match for Cassidy's character than did German. This is especially so given that it is clear from Heard's brief appearances that by that stage of her career, she had grown immensely into a more confident and commanding force of an actress. It is no wonder then that 2007 is also the same year that Heard got to feature as a main character in a TV series (Hidden Palms) for the first time in her career.

Comparing Cassidy and Heard, it's a testament to Heard's talent that while the career trajectories of these two similarly aged actresses have been largely similar and while Cassidy has appeared in many more iconic movies and series than Heard has, Heard has gained more professional recognition in terms of Awards and Nominations than Cassidy and she did manage, unlike Cassidy, to get to feature in a prominent supporting role in a record-breaking blockbuster movie (Aquaman, 2018), a featuring that, by all indications, would have been her breakthrough role into a future Oscar nomination or win had it not been for her ex-husband's abuse of her in their relationship and on the global stage. I for one am looking forward to Heard's resumption of her career and I believe that her talent and character are such that we will get to see more of her on the silver screens for years to come. But I digress.

Lastly, it will also be of interest to some to note that this movie has its own share of sexist tropes, romanticizes Hollywood's drug culture, overly simplifies its female characters, and has a severe under-representation of non-White characters.

Because of its multiple problems as described, I would have rated it with a 3. However, it is Cassidy's magnificent acting together with Amber Heard's presence that have made me settle on a 6 for it. I recommend the movie to comedy buffs with huge senses of humor and to those who love suspenseful vignette-style movies. I would also recommend it to those interested in studying Amber Heard's career and to fans of Katie Cassidy. Besides those among these audiences, I'm afraid that this movie has little to offer to anyone else.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed