Reflections

Since Movie Mix has been taken over by Sony it's had some little gems on in the mornings. Called thrilling mornings it's been a lot better. I'm a fan of a lot of films because I always think of the sheer hard work to make a movie. Anyway this film is a pretty good film. You can see the level of acting and sets the filmography all of it's good. I think assessing it as a longer version of Law and Order is a bit mean to both Reflections and Law and Order. So this is a little gem. Good plot interesting culture shock as it's set in Spain. How outrageous is that? No I think it being out of the usual Quantico USA setting helps it. Timothy Hutton is good as the tired out FBI officer All supporting Spanish actors have lots to offer. It's really well done. It keeps you guessing how it's going to play out and has a few surprises along the way. Keep it up Sony Movie Channel. For free view you're pretty good and now you've upped the ante let's hope others follow suit. I love a good black and white movie but movies for men should actually put some classics on not weird Ed Wood type films made on a budget of three pence! There is a place for them just not for 24 bloody hours on a constant loop.

"Reflections" is a mediocre criminal profiler vs deranged serial killer murder mystery that combines elements of television's "Dexter" with the Jean Reno/Vincent Cassels flick "Crimson Rivers", while playing out like a prolonged episode of "Law & Order".

In the film, we find ourselves following Tom (Timothy Hutton), an American Criminal Profiler working for Interpol, who has been brought to Spain in order to track down a serial killer that is responsible for stalking and ritually murdering a series of women. They arrest a man named Marco based on the presence of his DNA at four of the crime scenes. Thinking they have an open and shut case, the investigators are dumbstruck when they find out that Marco has an indisputable alibi, and could not possibly be the killer. Turns out that, in a bizarre twist of fate, Marco- who was, himself, born to adopted surrogate parents using a banked sperm & embryo- has a twin brother that was born from another mother (the woman who donated the egg he was born from) & a banked sperm...and the two men actually have the exact same DNA, despite the fact that Marco was born 10 years after his genetically identical "brother".

They cloak the serial killer character in a veil of mystery, as Tom and his fellow psychologist/rekindled love affair decide to understand the killer by profiling his twin brother-from-another-surrogate-mother-born-10-years-later, Marco.

At first I found myself a bit turned off by the low budget crime scene, whose blood looked like a combination of raspberry and strawberry jam (they do explain why it's like that, to their credit), but that went to the back of my mind as I found myself becoming immersed in the intriguing plot. The screenplay places a heavy emphasis on the development of the investigation, particularly focusing on the relationship between Tom and Marco, while purposefully neglecting to develop the serial killer/killing side of the story; only briefly referencing it here and there so we don't forget someone is actually still out there killing people (in ever "quicker cycles"...apparently). The reason for this becomes evident in the film's conclusion.

Despite the overwhelming focus on the investigation portion of the storyline, the way the writers have Tom "connecting" things is often times ridiculous, especially in the latter part of the film that leads up to the finale. Entire sections of the film felt rushed, and it seemed that they tried to push too much into the conclusion without having previously developed it much at all.

Overall the plot ends up being a mash-up of elements from "Dexter" and "Crimson Rivers" (if you've seen them, you'll know what I mean), with the storyline playing out like a long overly-immaculate episode of "Law & Order". I like Timothy Hutton, but I hope this was a favour as opposed to "what his career has come to". It's watchable if you are into the serial killer vs criminal profiler genre, but don't expect to be amazed. 4.5 out of 10.

The film that brought Timothy Hutton to my attention was The Dark Half. It was his skill at playing both writer and psychological killer which kept my attention. It's because of this performance that I watched this and his performance here, as the detective chasing a serial killer, pretty much carries the film.

This turns out to be a similar premise to the Stephen King story in the fact that there are twins; one is a man struggling to cope with his life and his brother, a psychotic serial killer. Unfortunately, Hutton is not playing that role. Miguel Angel Silvestre plays the brothers Marco and Roberto. This is not a spoiler as this isn't a major plot issue, and is revealed in the first section of the movie. Writers Darby Parker and Jay Beattie should have used this to at least create a little mystery, tension, and suspense, which would have made the film much better. Though the film really suffers from Silvestre's under-acting and woodenness. Each time he spoke all I could see was Jean-Claude Van Damme as he sounds exactly like him. Even JCVD would've added a bit more panache and power; also the fight scene's would have looked more realistic.

This is a "Columbo" style story. You're told who the killer is early on and then the story centres on the detective's chase and apprehension of the criminal. I much prefer the "Miss Marple" whodunnit murder mystery as it has the ability to bring the viewer into the story more.

Another issue with the film is the number of secondary cast members there are. This is detrimental to the film as it draws the story and the viewer away from the heart and vitality of the story. There's one scene that should have been critical to Timothy Hutton's character, Tom as he comes face to face with the death of his love. However, due to the story being stuffed to overflowing with superfluous scenes and characters we never get the time to relate fully to this pair's relationship so we don't feel Tom's loss and anger at that scene.

That said, the rest of the cast are pretty good in their portrayals of their characters. Director Bryan Goeres keeps the tempo of the film to an average pace. Once again, I think he could have infused a little suspense and tension by fluctuating the pace accordingly. If it wasn't for Hutton and the hope for a twist in the ending, as my imagination had conjured up a few, I would've hit the off button.

Then, when the twist comes, it's the obvious one. Boy did I feel let down, not just because the twist was the most obvious but because the story which led to it could have been improved by better showing the progression to the twist.

If you like Timothy Hutton or "Columbo" style movies then you may like this but don't expect too much from it. Otherwise, I would say, stay away.

Tim Hutton was wooden in his acting and seemed to be not very interested in putting life into this tale. Some of the supporting actors/actresses did a good job, but overall I found it all a waste of time. There were no redeeming features by the end, for me. A thriller it most certainly was not.

In 2008's Reflections, Timothy Hutton plays a Europol agent, Tom Brindle, who travels to Barcelona to find a serial killer called Pygmalion.

When DNA from one of the murders is matched in a military database, Brindle thinks he's got his man, named Marco (Miguel Silvestre). But he's in for a surprise when Marco turns out to have been in lockup during the last murder.

Turns out that Marco has a monozygotic twin who is ten years older. Both are the product of in vitro fertilization; the egg was cut in half -- half implanted, half refrozen and not fertilized until ten years later.

Marco agrees to cooperate because it's believed that even though separated, he may share some of the same characteristics, hobbies, etc. as his twin and can be of help tracking him down.

Interesting idea not very well executed by a somewhat boring and slow film that nonetheless has some excellent acting by Timothy Hutton. If anyone ever started out on a high note, it was Hutton. I'm not sure what happened except that he should be where Sean Penn is today.

Beautiful Spanish locations.