It is always amazing to me how (1) movie companies can pass off such slop to the public and (2) how such monumentally talented, experienced and discriminating actors such as Susan Sarandon, Keith Carradine and Bill Pullman can be convinced to participate in said slop. Cillian Murphy and Ellen Page are wasted in this film. The writing, direction and acting are dreadful, and the entire effort reminded me of an experimental, indulgent student film.
The storyline is absurd. Cillian Murphy plays a deeply disturbed man who was abused as a child and expresses his resulting split personality by dressing as a woman. As a man (John), his behavior on the job -- he is a bank clerk -- is so bizarre, but yet tolerated by his boss (Pullman) and the bank's president (Carradine), who is also the mayor, and the bank president's wife (Sarandon). In a real-life situation, these folks would recognize that John is psychotic, but here everyone acts as though he is a normal as blueberry pie! When John's female alter-ego (Emma) emerges (actor Cillian in a wig, makeup and dress who looks like character John in a wig, makeup and dress -- and, actually, somewhat disturbingly like a young Mia Farrow), no one -- the boss, bank president, bank president's wife, and the Ellen Page character -- recognizes that John and Emma are the same person. The scenes in which all these characters interact with John and Emma are laughable because it is so apparent to the audience that these two are the same person. What is even more hilarious is that John and Emma never appear together although they are supposed to be man and wife. Hmm, let's examine the clues.
There are two endings, each one perplexing, as is the entire film and why it was made. If you want to be entertained by a psychological thriller in which a young man becomes psychotic because his mother drove him nuts, take another look at the outstanding classic, "Psycho," and skip this brain drain.
The storyline is absurd. Cillian Murphy plays a deeply disturbed man who was abused as a child and expresses his resulting split personality by dressing as a woman. As a man (John), his behavior on the job -- he is a bank clerk -- is so bizarre, but yet tolerated by his boss (Pullman) and the bank's president (Carradine), who is also the mayor, and the bank president's wife (Sarandon). In a real-life situation, these folks would recognize that John is psychotic, but here everyone acts as though he is a normal as blueberry pie! When John's female alter-ego (Emma) emerges (actor Cillian in a wig, makeup and dress who looks like character John in a wig, makeup and dress -- and, actually, somewhat disturbingly like a young Mia Farrow), no one -- the boss, bank president, bank president's wife, and the Ellen Page character -- recognizes that John and Emma are the same person. The scenes in which all these characters interact with John and Emma are laughable because it is so apparent to the audience that these two are the same person. What is even more hilarious is that John and Emma never appear together although they are supposed to be man and wife. Hmm, let's examine the clues.
There are two endings, each one perplexing, as is the entire film and why it was made. If you want to be entertained by a psychological thriller in which a young man becomes psychotic because his mother drove him nuts, take another look at the outstanding classic, "Psycho," and skip this brain drain.