BristerM
Jul 28th, 2000, 08:01:14 AM
I got pretty much what I expected out of What Lies Beneath--a mildly entertaining supernatural drama reminiscent of the Sixth Sense. The only problem is, the Sixth Sense was about eight hundred times better than this movie.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The first hour of this movie was painfully slow. A couple people in the theater I was at actually walked out on the beginning. Basically in this part we learn about Michelle Pfieffer's car accident, her slightly unstable psyche, and the fact that everyone is looking out for her since she almost killed herself. We also learn about Harrison Ford's obsession with his work, his love for his wife (Pfieffer), and his exasperation with her when she starts to hear noises in the house.
It starts out with bumps and whispers in the house at night. Doors open unexpectedly, pictures are knocked down by some unseen force and shatter on the ground, and slowly (painfully so) these happenings drive Pfieffer to the edge. She tries to get the "ghost" or whatever it is out of the house by various means (Ouija boards, exorcism by burning a locket of the suspected ghost's hair) but in the end they don't really succeed.
I was really getting ready to walk out since the story looked like it was going nowhere, but in the last forty-five minutes the movie got interesting. We find out that the ghost is the spirit of a young girl that Harrison Ford had had an affair with the previous year. Since Ford didn't want to ruin his marriage, he tried to break it off with her. She threatened to tell his wife, though, and he killed her so she wouldn't tell.
The writer/director tries to put in a Sixth Sense-like twist by making Harrison Ford a killer who now has to kill his wife, but it doesn't work that well. It's really not much of a "surprise" persay.
But anyway, the last forty-five minutes of the movie are about Harrison Ford playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Michelle Pfieffer. There's lots of blood and some violence, and it makes the movie worth it. The climatic scene is very strange but pretty cool.
I'd recommend this movie, but don't rush out to see it. You should see it in theaters, however, because the jumps out of nowhere and the scary effects won't be half as frightening or as good on a TV screen. It's worth the price of admission. Rating: 3.2/5 stars
SPOILERS AHEAD
The first hour of this movie was painfully slow. A couple people in the theater I was at actually walked out on the beginning. Basically in this part we learn about Michelle Pfieffer's car accident, her slightly unstable psyche, and the fact that everyone is looking out for her since she almost killed herself. We also learn about Harrison Ford's obsession with his work, his love for his wife (Pfieffer), and his exasperation with her when she starts to hear noises in the house.
It starts out with bumps and whispers in the house at night. Doors open unexpectedly, pictures are knocked down by some unseen force and shatter on the ground, and slowly (painfully so) these happenings drive Pfieffer to the edge. She tries to get the "ghost" or whatever it is out of the house by various means (Ouija boards, exorcism by burning a locket of the suspected ghost's hair) but in the end they don't really succeed.
I was really getting ready to walk out since the story looked like it was going nowhere, but in the last forty-five minutes the movie got interesting. We find out that the ghost is the spirit of a young girl that Harrison Ford had had an affair with the previous year. Since Ford didn't want to ruin his marriage, he tried to break it off with her. She threatened to tell his wife, though, and he killed her so she wouldn't tell.
The writer/director tries to put in a Sixth Sense-like twist by making Harrison Ford a killer who now has to kill his wife, but it doesn't work that well. It's really not much of a "surprise" persay.
But anyway, the last forty-five minutes of the movie are about Harrison Ford playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Michelle Pfieffer. There's lots of blood and some violence, and it makes the movie worth it. The climatic scene is very strange but pretty cool.
I'd recommend this movie, but don't rush out to see it. You should see it in theaters, however, because the jumps out of nowhere and the scary effects won't be half as frightening or as good on a TV screen. It's worth the price of admission. Rating: 3.2/5 stars