Fortune Defies Death

Brew slow but jaw-dropping with an unexpected climax as you really get the moment of "Oh my!" While the movie with the characters is ultimately driven by greed, dangerously played between life and death, there is an intense atmosphere of dread and stress throughout, sown wonders of how the tragedy can really last so long, of all resulted in a terrifying conclusion. The final twist in the last act is "like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" (Forrest Gump). But the story does not intentionally offer the ferocity alone, but more to a package designed to stir the senses through a powerful storyline along with beautiful sentimental musical score that would make you feel nothing but a heartwarming experience. Technical works including performance are well integrated. Time will tell - this movie is going to be one of the best!

There are many good things about this movie. But the most brilliant part is where some scenes are "cut" half-and-half: one half from an objective perspective and the other half from a subjective perspective. A good example is when two guys talk "physically" in their private room first, then in the later half is only from the lawyer's vision. Since these two parts follow the same logic under same condition, you wouldn't even notice the difference when it goes on as one continuous plot - which makes the subjective point of view convincingly believable. Overall, 7/10 from my opinion, but adding this mastery up, I would give it one more clap.

Although this murder mystery is cleverly written, shot and performed, all the scenes and dialogues are wisely calculated, I wouldn't recommend it to those who straightly look for a thriller with busy actions and lousy murders - this is just not that kind.

Director Jennifer Hulum let her great cast booze up with those versatile characters, partly because of this sharp-witted screenplay written by great writers. The setting also gives a lavish presentation to the surroundings. With an eloquent combination of cinematography and editing, while the movie couldn't claim to be a classic mystery, it is a complacent, laid back and enjoyable entertainment, that's clever enough to keep you guessing until the end.

No film is made for everyone, even the greatest film like Titanic, it has 24,557 voters gave it "1". Really? Seriously? So the good film doesn't have to please everyone, but you've got to stick to a few things: A good premise, for example, it would draw people's attention in the first place. This film's premise is about the will reading lagging for 10 years with the condition of the daughter gone missing. Pretty good, huh? But there are a lot of films with a good premise, so I wouldn't be so fancy for it, rather give it 7 and continue my journey... Usually writing a good suspense movie is hard, you need a lot of planning because it builds the case upon the information given in the early time. In this film, such as Nadia's memory loss, the party photos used to solve the murder, checking necklace authenticity to verify the horrific truth... there are stuff implanted precisely but really depend on your own perception, if you're a good mind-hunter and paying attention for details, then you would find it more appreciated, otherwise it's a waste because everything planted is just subtle. But I like it being subtle. So I think it deserves 9. People might agree with me that the ending can either lift you up or smash you down. I understand that the climax and the ending should be separated because some film may have a super climax but fails flat at the end. But I think this film has done reasonably well because the surprises and puzzles are finally tied together as a whole for a solid resolution, so it's worth 9 in my opinion. For the rest of it, such as casting/performance, camera/lighting/sets, editing/sound/music, they are all fair enough even though there are some roughness along the way, nevertheless considering this kind of budget, I would be happy to make it average in 8. Hope you enjoy the film like I did.