Paranoia Review
RYAN: This is an ambitious movie with a good cast that doesn’t completely deliver for all it aspires to be. I was a bit bored.
TIMOTHY: I liked it. It’s not the thriller it’s set up to be, at all; there wasn’t that much to do with paranoia – it was all actually happening. They didn’t play on the title at all.
RYAN: That’s a really great point. It’s a bad title considering the story. But you really hit the nail on the head: it’s not a thriller because it’s not suspenseful and it desperately tries to be; it needs to be and fails at that. Remember the movie The Firm with Tom Cruise?
TIMOTHY: Yes.
RYAN: This has a similar theme but is nowhere near as intense. There are some twists but no real intrigue.
TIMOTHY: There were too many different things going on. It could have been a romantic comedy with just a few minor adjustments. However, I did find the first three-quarters very sexy and sophisticated. It reminded me of Match Point; feeling very Woody Allen.
RYAN: Wow I didn’t get that at all.
TIMOTHY: I liked the way the very beginning was shot.
RYAN: There were some good, creative aspects to it. I love the supporting cast – Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, you’re waiting the whole time for them to have that one scene together and they eventually do and it’s fantastic. But I hated Harrison’s hair in this movie. He’s less attractive.
TIMOTHY: Sure but how old is he now, 190?
RYAN: [laughs’ Exactly.
TIMOTHY: I like that they weren’t playing him as the sexy guy. You can’t outdo Liam Hemsworth in this film anyway.
RYAN: Well for what Liam lacks in acting chops, he makes up for with physique. He has that obligatory shower scene!
TIMOTHY: It went on for 20 minutes though.
RYAN: Who’s complaining? But he’s just not that great of an actor. This is the first time I’ve seen him in a leading role and the supporting cast is so much stronger.
TIMOTHY: But there might be something to the casting as relates to the story in the sense that Harrison and Gary are playing wiser men and they have a legacy in film whereas Liam is the new kid both in the movie and in Hollywood, comparatively.
RYAN: Wow you go deep! That’s a good point. Liam’s still not the greatest actor. [laughs’ I’m sorry. Matt Damon would have been better, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt. But they’re not as hot.
TIMOTHY: That’s true. But I liked Liam in this.
RYAN: That’s fair. He’s not a bad actor, I just found him to be the weakest link in this movie. There’s also Julian McMahon from TV’s Nip/Tuck and Josh Holloway who I haven’t seen since LOST. It was good seeing them. There’s an ensemble. This movie just really lacks edge.
TIMOTHY: Why were there three endings to the film? Every time I thought it was over, it kept going.
RYAN: Yeah what was that about? It’s a tad too long.
TIMOTHY: It’s probably marketable, though, because it seemed they kept trying to give the audience what they might want.
RYAN: Right, without giving anything away, the ending is a bit trite. How did you like the girl, Amber Heard?
TIMOTHY: She’s a cross between Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Stewart, right?
RYAN: Oh good call! She was good.
TIMOTHY: I liked her. She reminds me of an Italian actress I like a lot. I liked a lot of the shots at the beginning. The movie starts off better than it finishes.
RYAN: It has some problems. There are better options out now. I’m not saying run from it but I can’t insist you run to it either.
