Repentance: Tag der Reue

This movie had lots of potential but fell short. Still worth watching but I was disappointed. Forest Whitaker was amazing as expected but the rest of the cast was mediocre. Honestly I felt it wasn't so much bad acting...more bad casting. Tommy Carter played an intellectual therapist/life coach which made for some border line soap opera acting scenes. Mike Epps acting was fine but again wrong guy for that role; he's a comedian not a tough guy ex-con. Many reviewers mentioned this is a tricky, twisting, confusing movie...I have no clue what they watched. Between the trailer and the first scene I had the basic plot figured out which left to real no jaw dropping surprises. The ending was meant to be thought provoking but it felt more like a bad ending to a book. So much untapped potential, so many relations left unexplored.

This is one of those films that is largely based on the interpretation of the actors, who do the best they can with the material given to them and the instructions given by the director, Philippe Caland. The story told did not seem to have an exceptional relevance: it becomes quite predictable from the middle onwards and have some serious problems to consider.

So it's not surprising if I say that the best stuff here is the solid dramatic performance by Forrest Whitaker, an actor who has been on the rise since the beginning of the millennium and who has had a very promising career. This film is not one of his best, but his powerful and intense performance gives the film more interest. He is absolutely believable as a person in pain, disturbed, mentally unstable, but who has a heart and is not evil, although he is threatening in a convincing and brutal way. Anthony Mackie cannot keep up with him, but he also does a positive work. His character is denser than it seems at first glance, but this will only be understood as we see him interact with Whitaker. Despite a worthy attempt by Sanaa Lathan, we don't have a good supporting cast, and Mike Eps is particularly disappointing with his uninspired portrayal.

The script is based on the relationship between a visibly disturbed man and a therapist and author of self-help books, who accepts him as a patient despite not usually doing so. After all, he needs the money to help a bully brother. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to understand that this isn't the kind of help his new patient needs: the man is showing signs of psychosis or schizophrenia and needs a psychiatrist, not a guru of happy thoughts and Tibetan meditation. This therapist, if he has any experience, should have understood this: instead, he continues and makes the situation worse by suggesting that he stop the medication, perhaps an antidepressant, that was prescribed. The rest are consequences.

Honestly, I feel that this was enough to make a good film, even with the painful scenes that follow and that constitute the "core" of the film. The story of the car accident didn't need to be there. A disturbed man does not need a logical reason to attack, he just needs to lose his reason and self-control. Giving an intelligible reason for Whitaker's character's actions, in addition to being redundant, is weakening the character and turning him into a villain that he is not. This really ruined the film for me.

The film has many violent and bloody scenes, including tortures and high tension situations. It's not a film to watch with your eighty-year-old grandmother or the children. However, the suspense works effectively, and the tension grows as the end approaches. The good design of the sets (in particular the dilapidated house) and the cinematography help a lot to create this hostile and sinister environment.

Review: I had high expectations from this film because it had some decent actors in it, but the storyline is sketchy and the pace of the film made it quite boring. If you use your head, the film is predictable from beginning to end although it's supposed to be a suspense thriller. It also seemed a bit over acted and the director chose to jump right at the deep end which didn't give the characters that much depth. The concept, which is about a man who has psychological issues after the death of his mum and he decides to get help from a psychologist, doesn't seem to go anywhere for the first half of the movie and then it gets extremely dark out of the blue. The ending was also very sketchy so you end up feeling a bit cheated after spending so much time waiting for the story to unfold. Personally, I thought that the movie seemed a bit cheap and not very well thought through. Disappointed!

Round-Up: Forest Whitaker is not an actor that has chose the easiest path in his career. I would have thought that he has earned the right to pick and choose what roles to take, so it might just be down to bad choices why he has starred in so many dodgy movies lately. From big movies like the Butler and The Last King Of Scotland to the dodgy Pawn, Crossfire and the Truth, he has really had a rollacoaster of a career. Maybe he's just addicted to work like Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro. Anthony Mackies career has picked up lately with roles in the new Captain America, Pain and Gain and the new Avengers movie, so I doubt that this film will harm his portfolio. In all, this film must have looked good on paper but it just wasn't put together well by the director. 

Budget: $5million Worldwide Gross: $1million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their suspense/drama/thrillers about a man whose suffering with psychological problems after the death of his mother and seeks for help from a successful book writer. 3/10

Sadly this film may not be embraced by the masses, as bad as they need to see those types of films, but one can hope. One ought to be sharp and capable of following intelligent plot to really enjoy this film. It's not the 6th sense, where everything is pretty much spelled out for you yet still maintains it's integrity by being genius. This is more for the figure it out, use your brain kind of audience.

The cast bring it in terms of acting, my congratulations to the people who thought this would be great for an all black cast. The direction, the casting, was brilliant. Mind, consciousness, terror, a strong sense of reality, moving at real life pace, all the ingredients for a great psychological thriller are there. Very atypical for an all black cast, remember, I said atypical, please look it up and don't get confused. I personally think they should have maintained the original title VIPAKA. I played the Seer so I won't comment on my brilliant work :), I read the guidelines and it doesn't say I can't review a film I'm in, since many actors don't like films they're in, this one, is definitely worth a shot especially if you like the actors in it, (I personally can never take my eyes off of Forest Whitaker) and that genre, you will be happy you saw it.

And by this I'm not only talking about the budget (which seems to be a big concern for another reviewer), but also about the story of the movie. Sometimes there is more to a story than the first glimpse reveals. It may feel like the movie tries to cheat its way into the viewers mind a little bit, but the actors make up for it.

This is still a tough watch, because the title is chosen for a reason. There is not always reason to things happening in the movie and it seems a bit like a muddle from time to time, but it's still able to hold up a certain degree of suspense, if you let it to. The actors try their best to divert from some holes in the script (or finished movie, if scenes got deleted for pacing reasons) and the movie will be explicit in depicting violence to a degree.