Obsesión

The direction and writing of this film are superb. Matthew Parkhill has a wonderful and original talent of storytelling and the acting justifies every step the film takes. The dialog is interesting yet realistic and the characters are believable and extremely interesting. Natalia Verbeke has an acting style that is both likable and mysterious. I feel like the acting of the piece can potentially make or break the complicated story and I found that all three lead characters had a strong and specific enough performance that made the the plot fly.

I've been waiting for a film like this for a long time.

Truly excellent.

In London, in a French restaurant, the Spanish Carmen Colazzo (Natalia Verbeke) is celebrating with her girlfriends her next wedding with the wealthy British Barnaby R. Caspian (James D'Arcy). On her table, sit the Brazilian Kit Winter (Gael García Bernal) with his handy camera and two friends, and following a French tradition, Carmen warmly kisses Kit, and they have a crush on each other. This is the beginning of a delightful movie, full of secrets, mysteries and plot points.

Yesterday I saw "Dot the I" with the recommendation of a friend of mine. I was expecting to see a usual triangle of love romance, but I found a surprisingly great-unknown movie, full of twists. Inclusive there is a silly last scene in the middle of the credits. Although Gael García Bernal has no biotype of Brazilian, he shows a fantastic chemistry with the delicious and sexy Natalia Verbeke. James D'Arcy is amazing in the role of the cynical Barnaby. The intriguing, passionate and provocative story was the wonderful surprise of my weekend. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Jogo de Sedução" ("Seduction Game")

Having seen most of Bernal's films, or at least everything available in the US, I've grown to like him greatly as an actor, thus explaining my motivation for renting this. The description given on the jacket, added with the blurb equating it with Memento (which was a very entertaining mind-boggle), talked me in. Call it a two-for-two deal.

Reading through the commentary left by others, I'm troubled by the negativity being attached. Exactly when did it become a crime to invoke plot-twists as a story device? The last I knew, filmmakers such as Hitchcock and Preminger relied upon them incessantly. A twist in plot, if carried off well, can satisfy viewers and fire the imagination.

Personally, I find the romantic drama as a genre in dire need of a wake-up call. Films such as this one, Closer, Unfaithful, Wicker Park, and very few others, are daring to attempt something original, whether it be a more frank look at relationships, a less clichéd or sexist view of infidelity, or a new take on the love triangle... and by new I mean new in both this film and Wicker Park. Rather than recycle Shakespeare, Jane Austen, or An Affair To Remember for the forty-billionth time, the director and cast broke new ground.

This is not a perfect film, and really, honestly, who gets entertainment from "perfect" films? Admiration, yes. Respect, yes. Are perfect films fun though? That's an argument for a forum... I gave this an eight out of ten, with two points off for those imperfections. The three leads are solid; the story is clever and solid enough. The two points to perfection can easily be forgiven.

I had fun watching this movie.

I waited a day to post a comment to let the movie "sit" with me a while.

First, the acting throughout is excellent. You can't take your eyes off any of the characters, which are richly developed and complex - for the first two-thirds of the movie.

Then the characters become two dimensional, and I ceased to care as much what happens to them - not because of the acting, but because of the plot. Characters with which we identify act in ways that are incongruous and we lose connection with them.

At that point, the plot remains interesting, but it's almost as if we were dwelling inside the story and now we've been pushed out. We still want to know what happens next, but now we're distracted by the distance between us and the characters. But maybe that's the whole point - that people act in ways we don't expect given the situations they face.

It's a good movie and I'd recommend a viewing. As I said the acting is excellent and the plot is very solid - what you think is one thing may actually be another - but there aren't any holes. Just the opposite.

It's just that the first part (the love triangle) is so engaging that some of the plot twists that follow are annoying.

I would still recommend this film. Don't listen to critics anyway - obviously people really loved this film 100% - you might also.

Truly the stand out at Sundance in 2003. This movie will carry that "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" feeling all the way to the bank - just like "Sixth Sense". I got the chance to talk to Parkhill about the movie at another screening and he stated that the film was just "picked up" - just 2 days after it's premiere. He also said we will see this in theaters within the year. This film could not come out soon enough. He's got big shoes to fill now that he hit the jackpot coming out of the gate. I'm interested to see what he develops next.