I have been extremely busy with work, hence this belated Movie Monday review. Most of my days have been full of meetings and I take lots of work to catch up on at home, and as if that weren’t enough, I am getting ready to travel again. Nevertheless, we did manage to watch a movie at the weekend, so I shall review that.
It was Ann Hunter’s 2006 thriller “Irresistible” starring Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill and Emily Blunt. First, as it was an Australian film and made in Melbourne, it was good to see our hometown featured. We recognised the following: Citylink, Docklands, Immigration Museum, Riva Bar and Restaurant, St. Kilda, Williamstown Cemetery and Williamstown.
The plot revolves around Sophie Hartley (Sarandon) who is convinced that she is being stalked. She becomes increasingly certain that her husband’s (Neill) beautiful co-worker, Mara (Blunt), wants to take from her, her children, her husband and her life. However, as Sophie has been having some difficult times and she is a little fragile, no one believes her. Forced to prove her sanity, Sophie grows increasingly paranoid. But is she imagining things or is something really nasty happening? Sophie becomes completely caught up in her obsession, turning stalker herself - and makes a discovery more frightening than her worst fears…
The theme of the film is secrets in relationships, trust, love and family ties. Unfortunately the plot is rather clumsy and it sometimes seems a little slap-dash, or improvisational in nature. Apparently, Susan Sarandon worked with the director/scriptwriter Ann Hunter for six months to tweak the script to Sarandon’s standards before they even shot the first scene. The film is saved, however, by the good performances of the lead actors and the supporting role work by the children and Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, who plays a cameo role as Sophie’s father.
The movie labours a few points, with many twists and turns, and a final twist on a twist is unnecessary and looks like a cheap horror movie that prepares the ground or a sequel. The title is quite misleading and has nothing to do with the plot. In Portuguese the movie was released as: “Identidade Roubada” – Stolen Identity, which is a more reasonable title on many levels.
Don’t go out of your way to find this film and watch it, it’s the sort of thing that you may watch if you’re lazing around on a \Sunday afternoon, it’s raining and it comes on TV after you’ve made a bowl of popcorn. Watch it to pass time…
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