THE REAPING

RYAN: Wise men say, “You reap what you sow.” And I commend you, Caroline, for going out to see this scary film, “The Reaping.”

CAROLINE: A wise man should tell Hilary Swank to pick her scripts more carefully.

RYAN: That is just rude. I’m a fan of scary movies and this one is not that bad.

CAROLINE: It’s not terrible, you’re right. I was actually kind of into it for a good chunk of the time. I thought it was better than I anticipated. Until I didn’t.

RYAN: What makes you say that?

CAROLINE: It was the ending. The movie was going alone fine, kind of scary. And then the last twenty minutes were so lame I couldn’t even believe I was watching the same movie. It was reminiscent of last year’s debacle, “The Wicker Man.”

RYAN: I couldn’t disagree more because I thought the movie got better and better as it went on. And I thought the ending was really strong.

CAROLINE: Whatever. It was a blatant rip-off of “Rosemary’s Baby.”

RYAN: It’s a reinterpretation. But lots of films borrow from other films.

CAROLINE: Just admit that you’ve never seen “Rosemary’s Baby.”

RYAN: Fine. But the special effects in this movie were fantastic. The performances were good and I loved the little girl even though she had virtually no lines. She’s Violet from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

CAROLINE: She’s a beauty.

RYAN: She is. She totally looks like a lil’ version of you.

CAROLINE: Thanks, I’ll take it. I agree that the special effects were good, especially in that scene with the locusts. My God! That was harrowing to watch.

RYAN: I also liked the guy who played Hilary’s sidekick, Idris Elba.

CAROLINE: He’s from “The Wire.”

RYAN: Overall, the movie is not too scary. It’s the kind of movie for people who don’t love scary movies but are in the mood for a thriller.

CAROLINE: I don’t know about that. I’m not a scary movie person and I thought this was freaky. I had several moments where I had to grab my friend Sean’s arm in fear.

RYAN: There are some startling moments and even some kind of gross moments. But in my opinion, it’s a tame scary movie.

CAROLINE: The bottom line is that it’s not a great movie. You know it and I know it. It’s reasonably enjoyable up to a point. And Hilary gives a decent performance. She didn’t have to do any crazy weight gain or wear a bad wig. She’s just herself.

RYAN: We haven’t seen one truly great movie yet this year, have we? But among the films we’ve seen this year, “The Reaping” is one of the better ones. It’s short. It’s sweet… well, scary. And I don’t think it was wrong of Hilary to pick this movie. It’s always good to have a fright flick on your résumé.

CAROLINE: True, but this one didn’t even do that well at the box office, so it’s not like she’s in the next “Saw” or something.

RYAN: Well, her movies aren’t traditionally huge box office hits anyway.

CAROLINE: Fair enough.