I've come to realize that the majority of my movie reviews are entirely useless to anyone and everyone. Primarily because I suck at writing, but secondarily because they focus on just my reaction to the movie, rather than the movie itself.
That said, an objective review of The Skeleton Key. Very well done for what it was. Tightly written except where it tried to explain to much. Better acting than one could ever expect, and finally achieved the impossible of getting me to distinguish between Kate Hudson and Heather Graham, which for some reason were the same person in my head until Saturday. And of course Peter Sarsgaard seems physically incapable of making a bad movie, thus he is very nice here.
I was expecting something more scary in a traditional horror movie sense, but was pleasantly surprised to see it go the more psychological and creepy way, rather than flat out scares. I would definitely recommend it as a nice little diversion for a night out.
Now, for the biased review. Here's where you should stop reading if you haven't seen it yet, because my rant intrinsically ruins the movie, without even discussing the plot in the least.
You've been warned.
Okay, so previews suck. What is wrong with letting a movie surprise you with it's story once you've actually sat down to watch it? Are American audiences so jaded that we have to be offered a complete summary of the movie beforehand in order to lure us in? Because I'm pretty sure it's got the opposite effect going on.
Take this Red Eye movie coming up. Had they stuck with that short teaser trailer that was all pretending to be an opening for a romantic comedy, I would be anticipating this movie with reckless abandon. Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy? Together in a movie? And he's evil? Oh hells yes.
Instead, we get the new trailer which they cannot play enough times at the theatre and on TV where they blow the whole plot out into the open. And now I know it will suck. (I'd like to add "And I won't go see it," but let's not kid ourselves, I'm going to see it anyways.) The air of mystery and hotness surrounding the whole thing was wasted. Boo on all the promo departments out there.
This relates to The Skeleton Key how, you ask? Because the promo people were actually very good about keeping the storyline under control. All you get from the trailers is: Kate Hudson, spooky old house, skeleton key, rattling doors, Peter Sarsgaard, host of creepy old people. That is exactly what it needs to be. It got me interested enough to go see it opening weekend with mild anticipation. Bravo and how.
Except. No. Because they messed around with the trailer they show on TV for opening weekend to include a quick quote from a reviewer "with the best twist ending since The 6th Sense." Fuck you, marketing department.
Now that I know there's a twist coming up, I can't help but look for it. I'm not made of stone. In fact, my mind is so loud and annoying at all moments of my life, it's a miracle I can keep a sane face up in society. So I figured out the twist at right around the 48 minute mark of the movie, and had to endure the rest realizing that what should have been a very sweet reveal at the end had already been spoiled for me. Just the knowledge that there was a spoiler available out there was enough to spoil me for the movie.
I've discussed this with people at length over the weekend, and the majority of them say that it's my fault and I'm just too cynical to be able to enjoy movies without over thinking. Bah, I say to all of them, because that ending would have totally rock-ed my socks, had I not been looking for it.
Final tally: I am too cynical and movie marketing companies suck. But The Skeleton Key was really good. You should go see it.
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