cconnelly1

*Spoilers* Suspenseful, I kept waiting for a murder to take place. So this is basically a story of an intense couple, just engaged, who work in the finance industry (stocks and bonds I guess). The woman gets a promotion at work that the guy had wanted. He tries to be happy for her but is obviously resentful, jealous, and angry, and begins to treat her badly. The relationship starts to go down the tubes. The guy is very good at gaslighting her into thinking she is not good enough for the position, and that she slept her way to the top. She seems to be making a true effort to make things work between them, but his anger and anguish about her getting the promotion instead of him, overpowers any possibility of him coming to terms with it. They wind up physically assaulting each other. The ending scene has her pulling a knife on him and cutting him several times (non lethally), and demanding he apologize and admit that he has been the problem all along (he does). The movie ends abruptly at that point. It's not entirely clear what the message of this movie is, but it was entertaining and the acting of the two leads was pretty good.

I really wanted to love this, but it just fell short. I was hoping for something like Bloodline, a taut family drama with intrigue, twists and turns, murder, and multi-layered characters. The Perfect Couple tried to be this, but didn't quite get there. For one thing I found the scenes with the police investigation to be completely unrealistic. Several of the police officers investigating the case did not act or dress like detectives. The one older cop was sort of an Elmer Fudd character. What was he doing investigating a homicide? The behavior of the the main investigating officer and the detective in the interrogation room was also strange. When a suspect would give some important piece of information, they would look at each other with wonderment. As if they would be so obvious with their reactions in front of a suspect. At other times they don't ask suspects/witnesses the most obvious of questions. When the youngest son shows up at the officer's house with a bandaged hand, the officer doesn't even question him about it. Doesn't it cross his mind that it might have something to do with the events of the other night? He is just angry at the son for coming into his home. When Amelia tells them that Meritt had been pregnant, they barely ask her any questions. How about asking, "really?? What exactly did she say to you? When and where did she tell you this?' A small detail but one that annoys me in many crime drama shows, is what the interrogation room looks like. It is this dimly lighted, stylized room with sleek furniture, as if it is a room on a spaceship. In real life, interrogation rooms are usually pretty dingy with old furniture and bright lighting. Also, interrogation rooms do not usually have a gigantic window, which any remotely intelligent suspect would realize, offers police on the other side a view inside. The Perfect Couple doesn't know if it wants to be campy and comedic, or dramatic and serious. There are elements of both and they don't quite mesh. The character of the housekeeper, for example. Her character was so over the top. She could have been a character that similarly displayed the traits of loyalty to Tag, a great organizer of the household, the person who knows everything about everyone-without her being made into a sort of comic figure. Some plot points are unrealistic. How about when Amelia kisses Shooter, and Thomas sees her. It seems like Amelia really has feelings for Shooter, and not for Thomas; however after this, Amelia is nice to Thomas and they wind up kissing and fooling around. Why on Earth wasn't Thomas more angry wirh her? Why wasn't Amelia more embarrassed? Why was Amelia all of a sudden attracted to Thomas? Why didn't Thomas get more angry at Shooter? It seemed like the whole thing was no big deal to anyone. Nicole Kidman, though her acting is very good, looks very strange these days, as if she has had too much plastic surgery and Botox. She's also painfully thin. I just think she was a little too old and fragile-looking for this role. I think the ending of this could have been approved. The whole time I'd been thinking it was the youngest son that was to blame for this murder, either because he wanted to protect his inheritance, or because he had a crush on Merritt which somehow turned ugly. To me, that would have been a much more interesting and to the story. I could go on, but I guess I have to stop somewhere. The Nantucket scenery was nice to look at.

*Spoilers!****** This is definitely one of the creepiest, most uncomfortable, most suspenseful horror movies I've seen in a long time. I've never seen a movie that has as effectively and gradually built the feeling of "There is something not right... but am I just making too big a deal out of it? Or should I get out of here before I die??" That being said, there were some issues. Forget about the fact that if I was the mom in the movie, I never even would have gone on the trip, but if I did I certainly would have gotten the hell out of there, probably within the first hour of the visit when I saw that the hosts were acting weird. Once they escaped the first time, the notion that they would go back for Agnes' toy, was simply unbelievable.By that time they knew their hosts were decidedly strange, hostile, inappropriate and creepy. And they go back? Give me a break. Then once they go back, for some reason they feel the need to tell the truth to their wacky hosts. Why not just say, Agnes doesn't feel well, we have to leave? That probably wouldn't have been able to halt their hosts' evil plans, but really. Why are you trying to explain anything to these people? Just get the hell out! The fact that they wind up staying after that is also unbelievable. Any rational person would not stay, even if you take into consideration the dad's weird attraction to the psycho host. And it may be just a small thing, but the mom and Dad decided to fool around in the middle of all this nonsense? Who is going to be in a romantic mood when you are staying with these people in this f*d up situation? Also when psycho woman said, oh, we have this babysitter here to watch the kids?? There's no way on Earth I would leave my kid to be babysat by a complete and utter stranger, some guy who has been hired by a couple we barely know. And of course this guy winds up to be part of the whole child kidnapping process.

Very similar to Erin Brockovich but with male lead (Mark Ruffalo, who does as much as possible with the role), and somehow not as compelling. Evil chemical company, cover ups, people exposed to chemicals and getting sick from it. Lawsuits, settlements. Anne Hathaway is basically wasted in a standard wife-of-main-character role. Tim Robbins is almost unrecognizable and does a solid job but all in all it feels like we've seen this all before, done better.