Effraction

I was curious to watch "Trespass" because of the interesting casting of Nic Cage and Nic Kidman. I was a bit wary about Nic Cage, as his films lately have been a bit on the hammy side. Despite his leery reputation though, it is a wonder that he continues to get a lot of work, but good for him. Another curiosity about this film was the name of Joel Schumacher as director. His was a big name in directing box-office hits in the 80s and 90s. The last of film of his I had seen was when he directed Gerard Butler as "Phantom of the Opera."

"Trespass" turned out to be a film about a family whose beautiful suburban house was intruded upon by a gang of desperate amateur robbers. The robbers were quite violent and brutal the way they treated diamond trader Kyle Miller (Nic Cage), his glamorous wife Sarah (Nic Kidman) and their rebellious young daughter Avery (Liana Liberato). Things got a little more complicated when it was revealed that one of the robbers Jonah (Cam Gigandet) had a psychotic crush on Sarah.

The performances were over the top and unconvincing, both of the victims and the intruders. Nicole Kidman reminded me of her debut performance in "Dead Calm" as the victim of a psycho guy in love with her. However, she definitely loses her subtlety as well as any sexual tension as a victim here. Nicolas Cage was typically florid in his acting. You don't know where from his business background he got his extreme gung-ho bravado in facing these robbers! It was good to see Liana Liberato again after her memorably disturbing debut film "Trust." She had her good moments here. Cam Gigandet was appropriately creepy as the deluded Romeo. Jonah's brother and gang ringleader Elias was well-played by Ben Mendelsohn, whom I just realized was one of the sons in another crime family in "Animal Kingdom."

This was probably one of the noisiest movies set in a single house that I have seen. Everyone was always hysterically screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs. Despite the brutality of the robbers, it was a wonder how the victims also had the guts to stand up to them. The Millers were daringly answering and fighting back in spite of the guns brandished by the bad men in their faces! I must say this whole thing was highly improbable and unrealistic. Watch this at your own risk. Strictly for fans of the two Nics.

As is usually the case when a movie gets bad press, I felt compelled to see it for myself. As a fan of Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman, I was also interested to see just how terrible they were.

In actual fact I think the critics have been a little cruel. As other reviewers have commented, this is no groundbreaking piece of work; it's a home invasion story and highlights the lengths people will go to for money (see Panic Room for more details....!). Yes there is a lot of screaming from Nicole and a lot of people saying "run" and no one runs anywhere, but to be fair if I was in their position, I would likely be in a corner papping myself with fear.

It seems that they follow a similar formula to Panic Room, in that the burglars are pretty brutal and one or two of them seem slightly unhinged, but this is clearly a device used to work up tension as they become more panicked and more unpredictable. In a sense I liked this element, which showed something more of the invaders' humanity; their fears and failings.

All in all this is not an amazing film, but nor is it that terrible. It also isn't half as violent as people make out - there is a fair amount of threat but I have seen a lot worse and I am not a fan of violent movies. So 6/10 seems a fair score, although personally I quite enjoyed it - it was easy enough to watch and I was interested enough to keep watching to the end. But maybe that's just me.

I generally like to seek out films with a favourable IMDb review, yet have not previously reviewed a film myself. It was the relatively high review score that prompted me to "break my duck" (it's a UK expression) because I simply can't believe how this film has got such good reviews. It has the most outrageously over the top acting and ridiculous script that I have seen in such a long time.

Perversely, it's the absurdity that is the only thing line that keeps it from being boring and predictable - you are weirdly compelled to see how silly it can get. Every single character's handling of the situation and dialogue is so unbelievable that it's almost funny . If you thought that Nick Cage was bad in the ridiculous "Wicker Man" remake then this is certainly a close second.

One reviewer called this film "subtle" and I respect all views, but I found this as subtle as a flying mallet. This is sub standard fare even for the limited acting range of Nick Cage, but Nicole Kidman is sadly wasted here and is capable of so much more.

Sometimes "over the top" can make for entertaining escapism, not here. Sorry, I know it different strokes etc, but I thought this was absolutely awful.

This straight to DVD, "paint by numbers" thriller staring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman was one hell of a disappointment. The home invasion sub-genre while popular continually devours itself by its own lack of originality. There were a few moments in Trespass where the story could have taken a much more substantial route but rather then strive for something original the story falls back into the safe "paint by numbers" genre style. So in short - once you've seen one you've seen them all.

I have no idea where it went wrong but there was once a time when Nicolas Cage was hailed as being a great talent of cinema. During the past 10 years I can only count two films that feature the quality of acting he was once known for - 2009's doomsday epic Knowing & 2011's fantastic Drive Angry. There were scenes in Trespass that were obviously meant to be tense & on the edge but they were stripped of that feeling by the sub-par performance of Nicolas Cage as Kyle Miller. I found myself laughing several times when I should have been rooting for his character. He was just that bad. Played by someone else the character of Kyle Miller could have helped anchor this movie a little more and allow it to regain the intensity that it lacked.

The supporting cast (Nicole Kidman included) worked with what they had but I just wasn't able to invest in caring whether they lived or died. Nicole Kidman who is still such a great talent was reduced to spending the majority of this film sobbing and crawling along the ground. There was no need for the character of Sarah Miller (Nicole Kidman) to be played by someone of Kidmans stature. This character could have been played by anyone. The character Avery Miller (Liana Liberato) has a couple of great scenes towards the end of this film.

Trespass had the chance to go down a different route but sadly it went the safe, predictable path that we've all seen before.

Nicolas Cage has been on a bad movie streak for a while now. Every now and then he makes a winner, but most are forgettable B-movies that he agrees to do for a paycheck: You can't blame the man for doing his job. However, not all B-movies are bad - in fact, they're ideal entertainment if you want to sit back, relax, and shut off your brain for a couple hours. Trespass provides that mindless entertainment in spades, with a few head-scratches along the way.

The premise of Trespass is simple: Nic Cage plays a diamond dealer who lives in a beautiful house with his wife and daughter, and some thugs break into the house one day to steal his stash. Nicole Kidman plays his wife who feels distant from her hard-working husband, and the daughter is a typical rebellious teen that sneaks out and goes to a party behind her parents' back. Nothing special.

What makes this movie interesting is the performances. Cage taps into his subtlety - something he rarely does these days - which helps the tension and uneasiness of the atmosphere build until he finally bursts (on more than one occasion). And you never really know what is going through his head. These characters have secrets, all of them, and herein lies most of the film's faults.

The villains in this movie are a mixed bag. Each of the burglars have their own agenda that we find out over the course of the movie through the use of flashbacks and security cam footage. Some of the reveals are a pleasant surprise, others leave you scratching your head. It gets to the point that they're trying to intertwine all these villains' motives together but it ends up feeling forced and underwhelming. However, it is nice that they tried to do something different. Also Ben Mendelsohn's performance as the lead maniac and his eccentric back-and-forth between Cage really adds to the gravity of the situation and makes for a gripping protagonist-antagonist dynamic.

So to wrap up, this is not a thinking man's movie. You can try to put all the pieces together at the end but you'll only end up confused and disappointed - it's not worth the effort. The best thing you can do is grab some popcorn, turn off your brain and watch the events unravel before your eyes. You won't remember this movie as one of Cage's best that's for sure, but it's far from his worst. A good date movie? Sure. It's only 90 minutes, and if you're a fan of Nicolas Cage, you'll surely get at least some enjoyment from Trespass.