Bug

Tags

2000's, Ashley Judd, Bug, Harry Connick Jr, Michael Shannon, Psychological Horror, William Friedkin

Film Title

Bug

Director

William Friedkin

Starring

• Ashley Judd as Agnes White
• Michael Shannon as Peter Evans
• Harry Connick Jr as Jerry

A psychological horror that’s more about the ravages of loneliness and the persuasive yet damaging delusions to escape that feeling, is rendered unnervingly by William Friedkin in Bug. Scripted by Tracy Letts from his own play, Bug comes to frightening and intense life under the direction of, and aided by two astonishing performances from Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon.

Agnes White is a lonely and haunted young woman who resides in a battered old motel in Oklahoma. Having been terrified by her now released ex Jerry( who keeps cold calling her) and her son disappearing ten years ago, life hasn’t been easy for her. In between working at a local bar, Agnes gets drunk and does drugs with her only real friend to ease the pain. One night, she is introduced to a mysterious man named Peter Evans. He is a little bit awkward but well spoken and pleasant enough towards Agnes. Slowly, the beaten down woman starts to find a certain companionship with this fellow loner. It’s when Peter is seemingly bitten by a bug that his instability comes out, with him talking of time he spent in the army and how he’s being hunted for experimental purposes. At first, Agnes doesn’t know what to make of Peter and his conspiracy stories, but things take a turn quickly. Having been worn down so much and aching for connection that leaves her too open to suggestion, Agnes soon starts to gel with Peter’s delusional theories of a bug infestation in the motel room. Having Jerry lurking around does nothing to help Agnes and how Peter’s imaginings take hold of her. Peter’s frenzied behaviour and ramblings are enough to convince Agnes of something terrible and paranoid. Sealing themselves inside the crummy motel room away from everyone, insanity breeds and the varied delusions of bugs and conspiracy quickly overtake Agnes and Peter completely.

William Friedkin delves deep into the troubled psyche of the protagonists with his cinematic flair illuminating turmoil and eventual downward spiral. that will make your skin crawl and unsettle your mind as it throws you headlong into delusion and isolation that has damaging effects on Agnes, as created by paranoid Peter. Friedkin is a man who knows how to use a camera for maximum impact; often employing gliding motions before cutting to hand-held restlessness as the story cranks up. Armed with a script by its original creator, the encased and isolated aura of a play is successfully kept but as a string to the film’s bow rather than a weakness. The building atmosphere provided by both direction and screenplay is riveting in slowly pacing events, then unearthing with quick succession the obsessive and troubling path to insanity encountered by the characters. Within Bug, Agnes and Peter feed of the others anxieties and paranoid minds, further slipping away from any form of understanding reality. The thematic value of loneliness and desperation is brought out as something that influences the eventual horror in a most effective manner. Part of this is best envisioned in the fact that Bug largely takes place in one setting; the run-down motel room that has seen better days. Even when some light comes in, it’s a setting that takes on a creepy tone as sanity wanes and the cinematography captures some moody contrasts in colour with harsh, grimy efficiency. Now Bug does get a little too abstract in some parts, but the sheer volume of psychological content and claustrophobic mania of it cover up these cracks to produce a quite startling and horrifying movie. Bug reminds us that all the best and most terrifying horror comes from the mind and suggestion, insuring you won’t be able to quite forget this film after viewing. A sparse musical score brings more attention to the alarming content, yet knows when to pitch in for some doom-laded menace.

I’ve always thought Ashley Judd is a good actress, who for whatever reason, seems to be in movies that are somewhat generic, though her talent largely shines through. Here however, she’s got a role that really shows off her abilities with dramatic full force and allows her to shine. Capturing the pensive sadness of Agnes, who seems resigned and wounded by a terrible life, Judd slowly becomes more and more unstrung as her need for company in turn sends her into insanity. With gutsy anguish and feverish unpredictability, the pitiful and in many ways doomed Agnes is fantastically played by the marvellous Ashley Judd in what is probably her finest performance. Michael Shannon has a naturally intense demeanor to him that is largely from his steely eyes and tough jaw. Even when still and not seeming off kilter, he successfully exudes a sense of restlessness that will soon worryingly combust. These traits, along with a palpable sadness, are wonderfully and frighteningly put on display in Bug. Starting out playing Peter as a little awkward and strange, once the paranoia aspect hots up, Shannon lets loose and his frenzied tics and raw energy come out with spectacular results. It’s safe to say, Shannon’s unsettling and manic performance is not one to forget as he’s so scarily effective in the part. Both of the main stars share a warped and startling closeness that is remarkably intense and worrying. One can imagine that both Judd and Shannon must have been exhausted upon filming completion, given the emotional distress and frenzy they both had to play. Harry Connick Jr provides a beefed up and hair-trigger temper as the convict ex of Agnes, whose appearance disturbs her but is nothing compared to what transpires with Peter.

An an uncomfortable and disquieting horror that drags out the dark recesses of the mind and presents them with skin-crawling assurance, Bug is a movie not for everyone. But for those willing to watch a claustrophobic examination of paranoid delusion and alarming co-dependency(acted with striking intensity) that turns to mania , Bug will be well worth checking out. Just be warned, you won’t be able to shake Bug for some time, which is to give credit to the sheer impact of it all.

Hope Floats

Tags

1990's, Drama, Forest Whitaker, Gena Rowlands, Harry Connick Jr, Hope Floats, Mae Whitman, Michael Paré, Romance, Sandra Bullock

Film Title

Hope Floats

Director

Forest Whitaker

Starring

• Sandra Bullock as Birdie Pruitt
• Harry Connick Jr as Justin Matisse
• Gena Rowlands as Ramona Calvert
• Mae Whitman as Bernice Pruitt
• Michael Paré as Bill Pruitt

Its predictable and not much in the way of a surprise happens in it, but within its framework of a romantic drama, Hope Floats gains points for sturdy direction from Forest Whitaker and a moving performance from Sandra Bullock.

Birdie Pruitt thought she had a great life with her husband Bill. That was until she discovered that he had been having an affair with her best friend. To make matters even worse, this surreptitious relationship is revealed on a television show where Birdie thought she was going for a free makeover. Reeling from her husband’s betrayal and humiliated beyond belief, Birdie packs up her car and moves back to her Texas hometown with her young daughter Bernice. She doesn’t particularly want to go back home, but it appears to be the only place she can get as her eccentric mother Ramona is still there. Her mother is a get up and go lady who tries to help her daughter, though this is a big hurdle at first. Young Bernice is also miserable because she loves both of her parents, but being a child doesn’t quite understand the complexity of the situation and to top that off, she doesn’t fit in at her school. Birdie was once the popular girl in town who was elected Prom Queen and made the cheerleading squad, which made her the envy of a lot of girls. Now that she’s back in town and going through a rough time, her enemies and old acquaintances seem more than happy to see her on her knees. Potential support and a lift out of the doldrums takes the shape of old friend Justin Matisse, a good-hearted and handsome man who always had his eye on her in younger days. Slowly and with help, Birdie begins to take stock of her life and emerge from her hurting shell to experience life again through new eyes.

Forest Whitaker is in the directing chair and his vision is quite promising and colourful, even if the script is basically ticking off all the things you expect from this kind of movie. Whitaker’s direction is quite simple and allows the emotions to flow freely, giving the actors chance to do their thing. To summarise, Whitaker has a gentle and amiable touch to the film that while not anything revolutionary, provides you with something to smile about in the long run. What Hope Floats does that sets it apart from others if only by a small margin, is the way that it gets you to connect with the characters. There are moments of genuine poignant feeling in it that I will admit stirred my heart and soul. Yes I know it is schmaltzy and not a film that is going to get my brain working, but the sentiment of confronting life and rebuilding yourself worked its magic on me. Hope Floats isn’t afraid to show the difficult things in life that we go through, which makes the uplifting pervading tone as it goes on all the more arresting, albeit in an unoriginal though nonetheless pleasing way. The romance between Birdie and Justin in Hope Floats is a tentative yet nicely played one; it yields funny and affable results after much deliberation from Birdie after she begins to rebuild her life after licking her wounds. The easy visuals of sun dappled rivers and hued fields backs this up exceedingly well and you really can slow feeling Birdie warming up to Justin, apprehensively yet slowly letting that barrier come down. The biggest stumbling block in Hope Floats is that it sometimes stays too long on one situation, when it needs do get to the next point and could do it quite easily. That being said, the building charm and healing story more than compensate for that. A gentle selection of songs has a soothing edge that is just right for that stirring feeling Hope Floats is going for.

Sandra Bullock heads the film with a sensitive performance, gradually revealing a woman pulling her life back together after suffering immense embarrassment. Slowly, the effervescence we all love about Bullock comes out, but seeing her unaffected delivery and touching appeal in a lot of Hope Floats compliments the film very well and shows her twin talent of beings charming and convincing. It’s a quality performance that sells the sentimental nature of the film and rings pathos from it through an understated delivery that builds to a lovable unearthing from the luminous Bullock. Harry Connick, Jr is pretty impressive as the confident cowboy style guy who little by little breaks down Birdie’s blocks. The part is mainly there to be the dreamboat hunk, but Connick Jr is darn good at being amusing too. Gena Rowlands is an utter delight when playing the wildly dressed, pull yourself up by your bootstraps mother who attempts to help her daughter, in something of a roundabout and unusual way. Rowlands is thoroughly divine in the film and almost steals the show with her no cares what anyone thinks persona and amusing timing. As the young daughter of Birdie, Mae Whitman is marvellously mature and engaging, not coming off as just another child actor. Instead, she holds her own against her more experienced co-stars and positively shines as the little girl trying to understand what is going on. Michael Paré is there to play the jerk who cheated on Birdie, yet has scant little else to contribute.

Not exactly the most deep or challenging movie, but nor is it trying to be. Hope Floats goes straight for the heart and scores highly on that rating, bolstered also by a touching emotion to it. Clichéd as it is, I couldn’t help but be emotionally engaged with Hope Floats.

Copycat

Tags

1990's, Copycat, Dermot Mulroney, Harry Connick Jr, Holly Hunter, Jon Amiel, Sigourney Weaver, Thriller

Film Title

Copycat

Director

Jon Amiel

Starring

• Sigourney Weaver as Helen Hudson
• Holly Hunter as M.J. Monahan
• Dermot Mulroney as Reuben Goetz
• Harry Connick, Jr. as Daryll Lee Cullum

For some reason, I always think that Copycat is an underrated movie that deserves more recognition. After all it’s a well crafted and creepy thriller with style and excellent acting . I’m hoping with this review I can bring it to the attention of more people. Anyway, back to my review of this 90s chiller.

Helen Hudson is an intelligent criminal psychologist who often gives lectures on the subject of serial killers in colleges and universities. On one such visit, a traumatic event befalls her. One of her former patients, the highly disturbed Daryll Lee Cullum attacks her in the bathroom and nearly kills her. As a result of this brutal attempt on her life, Helen becomes severely agoraphobic and seals herself away within her high-tech apartment. Her only contact with the outside world is a sympathetic friend and a computer. Meanwhile, a spate of grisly murders of young women has been alarming the San Francisco area as there are no leads. The murders come to the attention of Helen, who calls the police suggesting that the slayings are connected. The police originally write her off, but the sharp head of the investigation M.J. Monahan thinks that Helen may be on to something. Along with her good-natured and eager partner Reuben Goetz, she enlists the help of Helen, who can be difficult because of her traumatic experiences that have left her suffering from immense panic attacks and horrible dreams, but is very sharp when it comes to the mind of a killer. As their investigation goes on and the murders become more brutal, Helen unearths that the killer is taking influence from notorious serial killers when committing these acts. Yet the killer cottons onto the fact that Helen is investigating and very soon she is top of his list of victims . And he makes this fact known by ways of creepy emotional torture and cryptic messages. Can Helen, M.J., and Reuben manage to unearth this twisted killer before his campaign of terror reaches the traumatised Helen?

What really drew me into Copycat was the attention to detail and style of it. There is a real sense of creepy menace as we are made, at a number of points to observe from the killer’s perspective as he plots his next murder. The disorientating camerawork when Helen is present is an excellent touch that gets to the heart of her intense agoraphobia and how she is worn down by it. Director Jon Amiel knows how to shoot a scene and keep us on the edge of our seats as Helen comes to see that she is intended target for the next killing as he toys with her emotionally by sending her disturbing messages and imagery via computer. And what a climax this movie has with nail-biting terror ever-present as Helen has to overcome her fear to survive a face to face encounter with the twisted killer. There are those who watch Copycat and think that it offers nothing new in the genre of cat and mouse thrillers but there is one excellent thing that it has in its arsenal, character development. Thanks to an inventive script, the characters are no mere cardboard cut outs but characters with a lot of dimension, especially Helen and M.J, who both have multitudes of layers to them.  A score from Christopher Young reverberates with flourishes of menace and ambience as the investigation into the copycat killer takes a good few turns and becomes more terrifying.

Sigourney Weaver, who ranks as one of my favourite actresses, is emotionally convincing and vivid as the terrified Helen. With Weaver in the role, Helen becomes a woman who may be broken down by her fears, but still has her intellect and wit to stop her from completely falling into despair. It’s safe to say that Sigourney Weaver delivers sterling work once more. Holly Hunter is also highly impressive at portraying the inspector on the case. Coming off as warm and cheerful, but with an unmistakable steel and determination beneath the surface, Hunter embodies the many facets of M.J. with aplomb, creating a well-rounded character that she inhabits beautifully. Dermot Mulroney has the boyish charm and good humour that is ideal for the role of supporting inspector on the case of these brutal murders. In the main villainous role Harry Connick, Jr. gives off slimy and sleazy creepiness as the man whose attack on Helen left her the way she is and who is also called in to help as he may know something about this copycat killer. When he is on the screen, it is chilling to watch as he taunts Helen once more via a link to his prison cell, all the while revealing what he knows about the killer.

Disturbingly effective and bolstered by strong cast and style, Copycat is one nerve-shredding suspense thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the get go.