So, this is what you need to know going into this movie, Trance. James McAvoy is in it. Oh wait, that's not it. Well, he IS in it, but that doesn't help the few of you who do not lust after him. Anyway, James (X-Men First Class, Wanted, Becoming Jane, my dreams) plays an auctioneer in an art house who gets caught up in the theft of a Goya painting that a nasty man, played by Vincent Cassel, tries to pull off, and has to employ the services of a hypnotist, played by Rosario Dawson. That's all I'm telling you, because to tell you any more would give away the film.
Actually, now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't give anything away. This is one of those films where you need a score card to keep up. Think Usual Suspects on acid. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, 127 Hours) directs it, and he brings his usual style and feeling to the film. The colors are spectacular, and everything has a dreamy quality to it, which is appropriate, given that you are dealing with memories, both real and imagined, to make up the bulk of the film. Probably the strength of the film is the complexity of the characters, which I would imagine that would have been the draw for these actors. No one is really as they seem, and that helps keep you off-center and paying attention.
It's also violent, which I put out there for anyone who's a little put-off by that. It's not Drive-violent, but it's got its moments. It also helps to pay attention to the little details, because they all come back in some fashion later on in the movie.
Ultimately, I think the movie's criss-crosses and double-crosses kind of weigh in on themselves, ultimately hurting the film. I love a good twisty mystery, but this one got a little extreme. Still, the acting's good, the story keeps you invested for most of it, and I got to see James McAvoy's naked heiney. All in all, a movie worth seeing.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
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