A graphic designer's enviable life slides into despair when his girlfriend breaks up with him. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Roman Coppola

Starring: Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and others

Current release date: February 8, 2013

Well, lets just start of by saying this movie is no way near as good as the original movie "Nattevagten", of which this movie is a remake but it's still being a pretty good and fun whodunit to have a good time with.

Kind of weird to notice how different this movie is in atmosphere and approach, since it actually got directed by the same director who made the original, 3 years prior to this American remake. And it's not just different but also most definitely less effective. There is not as much tension and mystery in this one, also due to some pacing issues (it's too fast paced at times) and a poor buildup to things.

And all while this movie in essence is still being just like the original. Not much had been changed in its story really and I was therefore also quite surprised to find out Steven Soderbergh was involved with the writing. Guess it was an easy paycheck for him, since really not all that much had been changed or added to the movie, when compared to the original movie.

While the original was being a whole lot of different things, this movie is just being a more simple and more straightforward thriller, or rather said whodunit. So really, don't expect this movie to provide you with any horror but as a mystery/thriller, I can still see this movie entertaining a whole bunch of people out there, of course especially those who aren't familiar with the original movie already.

And really, the movie on its own is really being quite good and entertaining for what it is. It really doesn't handle everything well, mainly stuff concerning the earlier mentioned pacing and buildup to things but as a whole it's still being a better movie than just the average genre attempt. There are plenty of thrills and surprises in it, that help to keep you invested in the movie.

It also has a cast to die for. Really an all-star cast, of which some actors are better known now days as back then. Ewan McGregor plays the main lead, while the movie further more stars Patricia Arquette, Nick Nolte, a still very young looking Josh Brolin, Brad Dourif and John C. Reilly. Not that this movie features any of their best or most interesting and challenging performances but still, it's always good to see so many talented people together on screen.

A definitely good enough movie as a straightforward thriller.

7/10

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(Review originally written at 17 February 2008)

While watching this movie I kept waiting for things to finally start of. It takes way to long for the movie to build up things. The movie is basically one big mysterious one, in which some odd things happen and when things finally get explained at the end, the movie still leaves more than a couple of unanswered questions and quite frankly, some things just don't make sense.

The movie could had become an interesting one, regarding religion and a scientific open approach about it but the movie doesn't really offer any material to think or debate about. It's as if the movie can't decide what angle to pick. Does it want to create a religious movie? Or does it want to create a deep going philosophical one, featuring arguments and hard facts. The end result now is something messy. It features realism as well as overblown movie moments, which doesn't really makes this a well balanced one. This movie basically is a poor man's "The Da Vinci Code". It makes this a very pointless movie to watch.

Not much wrong with its style though. The movie is visually good looking, which still makes the movie somewhat pleasant to watch.

It's mostly the story that makes this a silly one to watch. Once you start thinking about it, a lot of things in the movie just don't make sense. Why are some of these things occurring? And why are they happening in the way they are? The movie doesn't go to a lot of trouble to try and explain any of it. On top of that, the movie is also mostly predictable, in the way it progresses and it also isn't afraid to 'borrow' from other films.

The movie still has a pretty good cast with Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne and Jonathan Pryce. So nothing wrong with the casting in this one. Everyon fits their roles well and especially Gabriel Byrne was good.

Had potential but it gets ruined by its silly story.

4/10