#9 Trespass
Year: 2011
Director: Joel Shumacher
MPAA Rating: R
Epic Co-stars: Nicole Kidman
Running Time: 91 mins.Cage Time: 85%
Cage Kills: 1
Cage Flip-outs: 3
Shauna's Review: Home invasion thrillers are, as a genre, some of the best and most finely-wrought suspense films. Fighting it out with a gang of baddies on your home turf is both advantageous (you know the house better than they do) and unsettling (they've invaded your privacy, and your goddamn family is there, inevitably screaming/crying/basically useless). How will you use your wits to save your family and accidentally-on-purpose probably end up killing those bad guys?
If you're thinking of your favorite home invasion movies at this point-- Panic Room, When a Stranger Calls, Wait Until Dark, Home Alone, etc-- it's probably best to set those thoughts aside before watching Trespass, because it's not going to hold up very well in the comparison. Subtly rising tension, clever plot twists, and ingenious foils are replaced with mostly a bunch of screaming, cursing, and crying. It reminded me of the one mortifying time I did improv in a high school drama class: given a quick series of scenarios, my friend and I were too nervous to come up with anything new and embarrassingly "acted" terrified in each new scene ("Aack! We're in a hot air balloon! Oh no! We're trapped on a ledge! Help us! We're stuck in a supermarket!"). The characters in this film's similarly static reactions to each new predicament dull your interest and your emotional investment as time goes on. It's probably realistic to imagine that people in this situation would mostly cry, threaten each other without follow-through, and scream f-bombs as often as possible, but that doesn't mean it's interesting to watch.
Nic Cage plays Harrison Ford's character from Firewall, except he looks like chubby, old Tom Hanks with Mr. Feeny glasses and has none of Ford's quiet resolve. Instead (have I mentioned?) he yells a lot. And cries. It's such a shame to have Cage in a role with nothing quotable to say and very little ass-kicking. I kept hoping for a dramatic shift in this film, but it just never came. My conclusion: in this type of movie, either the criminals or the victims have to be clever, preferably both. If both of them are making inexplicably stupid choices and no one is saying anything interesting... there's not much point in watching.
Movie quotability: 0/5
Plot Holes:
If you're thinking of your favorite home invasion movies at this point-- Panic Room, When a Stranger Calls, Wait Until Dark, Home Alone, etc-- it's probably best to set those thoughts aside before watching Trespass, because it's not going to hold up very well in the comparison. Subtly rising tension, clever plot twists, and ingenious foils are replaced with mostly a bunch of screaming, cursing, and crying. It reminded me of the one mortifying time I did improv in a high school drama class: given a quick series of scenarios, my friend and I were too nervous to come up with anything new and embarrassingly "acted" terrified in each new scene ("Aack! We're in a hot air balloon! Oh no! We're trapped on a ledge! Help us! We're stuck in a supermarket!"). The characters in this film's similarly static reactions to each new predicament dull your interest and your emotional investment as time goes on. It's probably realistic to imagine that people in this situation would mostly cry, threaten each other without follow-through, and scream f-bombs as often as possible, but that doesn't mean it's interesting to watch.
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| "This is so upsetting!" "I know! There aren't even any interesting screen shots from this movie!" |
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| "Oh, my god... when will this movie be over?" "I know, honey, I know... soon. Soon." |
- "Shit fucking animals!"
- SPOILER: Nic Cage gets shot in the inner thigh but barely groans, much less bleeds to death from his femoral artery. Later he walks with a teeny limp.
CAGEamatic
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Cinematic
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|---|---|---|
| Skyler |
Poor
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Improvement Required
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| Shauna |  |
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| James |
2.3/5
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2.5/5
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| Martine |
!Stayed in the Cage!
| |
While I agree with most of Shauna's review you are mildly rewarded for suffering through the film with the kill near the end. It was pretty cool, but doesn't nearly come close to balancing out all of the preceding lameness.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this isn't the best home invasion movie and was confused as to the type of character Cage was trying to portray as he's really not the businessman with thick glasses type of person. You're pretty sure he's not going to take it laying down and will fight back, but at the same time it seems contrary to what I thought his character was supposed to be like.
ReplyDeleteFor plot holes I'll have to say don't waste your money on an alarm system if you only use the crotch-cam to identify people prior to entry and the security people are willing to be put off for several minutes before being giving the pass code. The wife isn't the least bit surprised to see the cigarette lighter and neither of them seems overly concerned about it. The daughter has a keyed lock on her door? I've got a nail gun and I'll give you $20 for each nail that you are able to shoot at a boot on the floor using one hand. It can't be done unless the nail gun is broken or tampered with.
Excellent plot holes. You're hired.
ReplyDelete[possible SPOILERS] This movie was so frustrating with how long everything took to do. Just do what they say! yea they would've killed you but it would have saved a lot of time. These would have to be the most patient bad guys of all time. They took an hour to do what I would have done much sooner if someone was being so stubborn. They were like alright thats it we've had enough like 10 times in the movie and they still did not get anything out of it. i wont even begin to go into the whole twisty turn plot they had. all we got was a frustrating, convoluted mess of a movie. i didn't like kidman in this movie. i think her realization stares were very creepy looking. the one thing i did like was when Nicolas cage lost his glasses and Avery came in. he beckoned her over to him lie he was a blind man on his death bed.
ReplyDeleteI'd give this a 2/5.
Review #9
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say that hasnt been said? The plot really is a mess in this one... I mean, Cage factor is not very high, and in overall, nothing makes real sense in the story. Nicolas tries to save his family from burglary, and ends up burning his house, after nailing a guy to the floor.
Could have been better, and Cage's character was a little out of focus on personality...
I give this one a 4. Meh
#38 Trespass (2011) My DVD First Time View. Pretty good.
ReplyDelete