The Keeper

So here's an example of a movie that's easy to dislike, since it shamelessly rips off "Lady in a cage" and "The Collector", was done on a shoe-string budget with five to six cameras running during one scene and it has Lochlyn Munro in it. It's got all the creative looks of your typical movie-of-the-week and Asia Argento may be one of the prettiest faces, but her acting abilities are zip to zero. Nevertheless I have seen much worse. The Keeper is done fairly tongue-in-cheek with quite a wry, witty sense of humor and Helen Shaver is in fine form giving a performance so hammy she 's entering Vincent-Price-terrain. And Hopper doing his Hopper-routine is always more entertaining than watching any of those lame-assed method actors. O.K. for the price of an overnight rental, but you won't write home about it. 4/10

Keeper, The (2004)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Lifeless thriller about a deranged cop (Dennis Hopper) who kidnaps a stripper (Asia Argento) and holds her hostage so that he can teach her how to be good. You'd think having Hopper play a nut and Argento a stripper that some magic would surface but that's not the case as this thriller lacks any suspense and instead enters the "so bad it's mildly entertaining" level. The badness of the screenplay and dialogue allows for plenty of unintentional laughs. Both Hopper and Argento are good in their roles but I really wish the screenplay had done more with their talents. The direction is pretty bad so this here is for fans of the actors only.

The reason for buying this DVD was that Dennis Hopper plays a lead role in the movie. Dennis Hopper is the kind of actor that can make a poor scenario work. One of the best parts he ever did was in True Romance, by Quentin Tarentino. The 10 minutes of his appearance in that movie are classic! The Keeper has some exciting parts that make up for the poor way (I think) in which the plot unravels... Why is deputy Burns sitting at a computer for hours with the same material on it??? The Keeper is an easy to watch movie and therefore simple entertainment. Because of the good acting by Dennis Hopper and Asia Argento I give this movie a 7-, although next time I want to see Dennis in a 10+ movie again!

This is a tough one to vote for. There are many flaws: the story is very thin, the psychology of childhood sufferings that create a personality like Hopper's is so basal it's embarrassing, the cheap coincidences (like the heli flying around while Gina escapes for the first time and the colleague driving his car to the right place while the kidnapping is at its deadly conclusion). And the editing, what an awful job they did...

The good thing about this movie is the acting. Hopper always maintains a fair level, no matter how crappy a movie is. But the real star is Argento, she alone makes you wanna watch the developments unfold. Her portrayal of a caged being that is frustrated, adapting and always on the watch is very fascinating and makes you (well, me) take for granted all aforementioned weaknesses.

The Keeper is a story about a young dancer who gets abducted and imprisoned by a corrupt police officer, who's assistant desperately tries to solve the case of the dancer. The plot is quite OK here, but nothing special or surprising. The acting by Dennis Hopper is great, and he really blends the movie with his insane character (officer Krebs). I suppose what didn't made this movie "do it" for me was the poor development here. It all starts out cool, but the further the plot develops the worse it gets. In the end, it feels like everyone and everything has just freaked out and what is left to digest is nothing. 4/10 because of the performance by Hopper and this movie might be "OK" entertainment if you have nothing else to do (or watch).