“Danny Boyle is a director I keep my eye on. It wasn’t until I really started thinking about his work today that I realized how all over the place he really is. I tMaybehink I’ve found another cinematical kindred spirit. After his last couple Oscar bait-y movies (127 Hours and Slumdog Millionare, which he did win for), he’s back to his gritty roots. As dark as Shallow Grave and as trippy as Trainspotting, we have Trance.
Short summary: James McAvoy is involved in an art heist but a blow to the head leaves him unable to remember where he left the heisted art. Rosario Dawson steps in to try some hypno-therapy to bring back his memories before bad guy Vincent Cassel runs out of patience. The first half of the movie, I was so into it. I love a good, smart, and imaginitive psychological thriller, which is exactly what this was through and through. Then it got confusing for a while. Maybe I was overthinking things, trying to remind myself that not everything may be real, getting lost in what was actually happening. But then we got to the mind blowing ending, and whoa. Kinda awesome, even if I muddled thru the middle.
We learned from Wanted that James McAvoy can carry a film, and he was a great fit. Charming when needed, but with a dark side lurking just below the surface. Rosario Dawson was also pretty solid, and I’m loving Vincent Cassel as a baddie (although I do find it interesting he takes on a thief role with Ocean’s already on his resume).
It really was a rather fascinating subject. Hypnosis has been used so many times throughout film, but I haven’t seen it play such a centralized role. Anything that has me leaving the theater thinking that I want to learn more about the subject is its own victory. I just wish I understood what happened in the middle
Trance – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n