Mysteria

I was skeptical to start and 5 minutes into it I turned it off. Maybe I didn't give it a chance but after a phone rings for 45 seconds in a scene I was utterly annoyed. Who writes, directs and produces a film and thinks people want to hear a phone ringing that long?! Torture.

the movie actually sucks big time. If you want to watch a film noir, find Gotham, with Tommy Lee Jones. It's just as strange but actually is good. This had no script, bad acting, bad music, bad everything. It was totally a waste of our time so don't waste yours to rent it. If I could get the $1.00 back, I would. My husband said he couldn't wait to get this DVD out of the house in case someone would think it's the kind of movie we would watch.

We actually thought with the quality of some of the actors it would redeem itself if we kept watching it. About every 10 minutes we would look at each other as if to see who would turn it off first. the ending, WHAT ending. Did I mention this movie sucks big time?

I felt compelled to keep on watching this movie to see if something was going to happen. Unfortunately, nothing really happens, it really is the worst movie I have ever seen, it was a total waste of 90 minutes of my life. I will never get that 90 minutes back.

I do not know how anyone could possibly give this movie a positive rating. It was totally mind numbing!

I will not give any spoilers to the movie or mention the plot. The plot may seem clever, but is incomplete.

Mysteria seems like half a movie, and is extremely slow moving. It could have been highly edited leaving most of the tape on the floor, and adding an ending.

Perhaps the production company ran out of money when making Mysteria and left in the 90 minutes of content to recuperate some revenue.

I do not know of anyone that I would recommend this to.

Washed-up former Hollywood screen writing bigshot Aleister Bain (Robert Miano) is living a sad existence in a seedy apartment, trying desperately to finish a script he is months behind on before his agent (Billy Zane) cuts off his funding. The arrival of a beautiful film student (Meadow Williams) coincides with Bain's mixing up with the murder of the wife of a powerful Senator. Two cops (Danny Glover and Michael Rooker) separately try to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The cast draws you in to "Mysteria" and the plot keeps you interested. Miano is the star, and ably performs as a beat up, put down has-been who is thrust into a world that seems a perfect match for one of the scripts he was noted for writing in his past. The countless twists that come from arrivals of new characters keep Bain on his booze-soaked feet to find out what his connection is.

"Mysteria"'s supporting cast is strong. Danny Glover whispers his way through hearing Bain's story, while Michael Rooker proves his underrated worth as the tough Captain who has more mystery than he lets on. Meadow Williams is the weak spot, she tends to say her lines as if they were held up behind the camera. Academy Award winner Martin Landau has a couple of funny scenes as Miano's elderly landlord.

Cinematography and design came together strongly to portray the grime of the setting, which was shot in Los Angeles but never said to be where the film took place. Strategic shots of an empty bottle of booze in the foreground while Bain continues his investigation serve as a recurring motif of what the film is making it's main character out to be.

What keeps the film from a better score is a soundtrack that seemed perpetually off track. A large ensemble score didn't match the interior shots of a grimy apartment. The script rambles a bit too often, especially at the beginning, and might lose some viewers who don't get hooked in soon enough to see a far better second act.

Overall, "Mysteria" is an able, interesting low budget thriller that doesn't disappoint but doesn't really thrill, either.

OK. Well, to start with, Mike Rooker, who has p****d me off for DECADES with over-acting, and never quite making it, deserves a supporting Oscar in this. Yes, his script is good, but, at last, HE's good.

BUT

The film is just, I dunno, not quite there. Too clever? Don't get me wrong, I liked it, it left me guessing, but that's just it. The back-story, the narrative in the writer's/director's mind, never quite made it to screen.

I'm left knowing I saw something good, something very good, but somehow, just a little, empty. Unresolved. And I'm not trying to say EVERYTHING should resolve - I mean, hey, I live in the UK - we can't even get the weather right - but.... I liked the film (it's gone from 7 to 8 while I wrote this, and the cinematography, script, acting, are all top notch...)

But then hey. I admired, and was irritated by Mulholland Drive. For similar reasons. Very similar. watch it. Definitely watch it. But don't blame me if you get just a little bit lost when the credits roll.