Change Your Image
seanpar
Reviews
Disturbing Behavior (1998)
What a waste of potential, don't waste your money!
Maybe I was wrong to "get my hopes up" and "look forward" to seeing this movie. As a big fan of "Millenium" I expected David Nutter and Mark Snow to create a film that was at least entertaining and interesting, not silly and flat like this was. I'm a big fan of Nick Stahl and Steve Railsback, thought Jimmy Marsden did a good job and was fairly fascinated during the film by Katie Holmes and seeing more of her body piercings, but this film just doesn't go anywhere. Nick Stahl gives the only multi-dimensional performance in the film, and that only for the first half until he's "converted." The rest just seem like on-lookers to the train-wreck of a plot they are caught up in. By the time the film got to the absurd mental hospital scenes, I was ready to walk out, except for the hope of seeing a little more of Katie Holmes. But the end of the film I got over that obsession as well.
Eye of God (1997)
All I can say is see this film!
As random and disturbing acts of violence have become commonplace in America in the past few years -- small town serial killers and schoolyard shootings -- we hear again and again sound bites on the news of these events which indicate that the evidence of an impending tragedy seemed so obvious, it's hard to imagine why no one interruped the chain of events which unfolded in each case. "Eye of God" gives the viewer a powerful and disturbing experience in what these bystanders must have seen and felt. Director Tim Blake Nelson uses a shattered time line to give the viewer bits and pieces of this story, and the convergences of two lives that end badly in a small Oklahoma town. Confusing at first, as it's meant to be, when these story lines fall into place for the viewer like pieces of a puzzle, and the narrative of the plot spirals down to a devastating "ground zero," the viewer themself feels complicit in what has just unfolded. With only a limited theatrical release, and little in the way of video distribution, the best way to see this film is to ask your local video owner (again and again) to order this film. This film is very difficult to digest, and may, in fact, be triggering for abuse survivors. (I screamed and wept with grief at the unexpected death of one character.) But in terms of film craftmanship, it is one of the best movies I have ever seen. The best film yet for Martha Plimpton and Kevin Anderson, a capstone triumph in the long career of Hal Holbrook, and Nick Stahl's understated and heartfelt portrayal of "Tommy" was powerful and unforgetable. All I can say is SEE THIS FILM!