It's hard to believe than an interesting idea with such a casting for the main roles can end up being such a mediocre movie.
The script is not great, it definitely has its flaws, but what really bothered me is the camera work and cinematography. It really makes this movie look cheap. Even though there is a decent budget (big actors, cars being destroyed..), the style is completely absent. The shaky camera and quick zooms look horrible and distracting in this kind of movie, it's like the director made a couple of action movies and didn't know how to film this. It's a very dark story, with very dark characters and dialogs, but the visual mood tells a completely different story, and if you're aware of this aspect of a movie, it will definitely spoil this one like it happened to me.
Another big annoyance was the character Joe (J. D. Morgan), which was supposed to be a burned down cop with a big mess on his hands, but then he walks around with a gentle smile, being cool and nice and sharing some lovely scenes with his happy family. I actually like the actor, but it seems that he wasn't really guided into the character. Complete kill of mood. There were lots of moments where the characters kind of lose the touch with the nature of the story and I found that very distracting. This was supposed to be a sequel for Se7en. Compare it with that and you'll see exactly what I mean.
I'm sure lots of people will find this movie good, watchable. I feel like it had the potential to be way better, but the director failed to set the mood right.
I'm actually glad they didn't make this into a sequel for Se7en.
Solace
2015
Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Solace
2015
Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Plot summary
A psychic doctor, John Clancy, works with an FBI special agent in search of a serial killer.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
January 10, 2016 at 07:12 AM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Interesting idea, poor execution
"You see, he's just like me. He sees things, only he's better at it, a whole lot better."
Interesting concept for a serial murder mystery. The plot becomes provocative when Charles Ambrose (Colin Farrell) unexpectedly faces Dr. John Clancy (Anthony Hopkins) and explains his motivation for killing people with either a known or yet undetected fatal disease. But the bigger twist occurs later when Ambrose reveals he's dying too, and wants Clancy to be his successor in the mercy killing business. The kicker to all this is that both men have psychic abilities, with Ambrose one step ahead of Clancy at nearly every turn. If the filmmakers hadn't inserted a mid film scene of Clancy at his dying daughter's bedside, it would have made the closing scene a bit more shocking. Disparate elements introduced in the story like the frogs and the Atticus newsstand eventually come together, with competing but not necessarily accurate visions of future events creating the tension that propel it forward. I thought this was a good one, certainly better than the current 6.4 IMDb rating it has currently has (as I write this). Farrell made his character sound almost reasonable, and Hopkins, well, what can you say? His understated performance carried a stern gravitas throughout the entire picture.
The most misunderstood movie of all time.
In short, I think some people (in my view of course, and I might be wrong), misunderstood the movie. It's not about psychics or super natural phenomenons.
The movie is clearly (well not that clearly), about hypocrisy and staunchness. The main protagonist did to his daughter what the killer is doing to his victims. Unfortunately, the main protagonist (played masterfully by A. Hopkins), insists on not accepting it. In the end, he is forced to.
In my view it's an excellent misunderstood thriller. Don't get discouraged by the low star reviews. If thrillers are your thing, don't miss it.