Second Skin

Nothing quite appears as it seems, right up to the unexpected twist at the end. All the characters have some kind of hidden agenda. Most of the actors were unknown to me, except for Fonda and his was a minor part at best; but I think it was very well acted, directed, and the cinematography was very well done. All in all, I think it was a pretty cool movie.

I liked this movie right from the beginning. It's obvious by the way it looks that it isn't a blockbuster, but it certainly was entertaining, moody, and well executed. I especially liked the music, which added to the atmosphere of the film, and was written by former Prince band members Wendy & Lisa. It stars the lovely Natasha Henstridge as a mysterious woman who wanders into a small bookshop looking for work. The dubious owner is sceptical at first, and refuses her request even though he is attracted to her. But he is soon drawn to her, as he witnesses her being run over as she leaves his store. Many good plot twists and turns follow, in this stylish thriller.

But the ending was unsatisfying, and left me wanting more.

Standard mob story with pretty girl falling for the wrong guy. She ends up with amnesia and starts her life over with the guy who happened to be there. Lots of behind the scenes intrigue going on, with secrets being kept by everyone. Tough to tell who is scamming who, and just how we got to this point of payback. It all comes apparent in the end, but by then you really don't care. The characters do there lines okay, but not much to work with. He gets the pretty girl, but there is no spark and no reason to believe she would ever be with him. Maybe if they used different actors, then the emotion would have been better. Then we would try to believe the mystery or even bother to understand it. This looks like it could have been okay, but along the way it just ends up flat.

The problem with this movie is the leaden touch of Darrell Roodt.

Pretty photography and an absolutely gorgeous lead babe can't hide the fact that there is no plot, that the girl is getting involved with a guy who has the charisma of a rotting potato and that by the time you get to the mystery, you've really stopped caring.

The movie _slowly_ meanders from one cliche to the next. Guy without a past runs a bookstore without clientele, when a beautiful babe comes in and spouts a number of tacky cliches. Then, in the mother of all plot devices, she walks out the store and _gets hit by a car_ so she can "lose her memory".

Who cares? I don't. A waste of money.

This dark mystery/thriller begins well enough, but it gets increasingly implausible until by the end it loses most of its credibility. Crystal Ball (Natasha Henstridge) walks into a second hand bookstore owned by Sam Kane (Angus MacFadyen) ostensibly to apply for a job. Upon leaving, she is hit by a car. Sam takes her to the hospital and cares for her while she recovers. The impact causes her to lose her memory, so she doesn't know who she is or where she lives. The two fall in love and then Crystal suddenly remembers that she was sent by Merv Gutman (Peter Fonda) to kill Sam because Merv thinks Sam stole money from him. The film goes through a number of gyrations including confrontations between Crystal and her boyfriend Tommy G (Liam Waite), Crystal and Merv, Sam and Tommy G, Sam and Merv, Crystal and Sam, etc., etc.

The plot has a few interesting twists, but the dialogue is banal and many of the scenes drag. However, for a film made on a $3.5 Million budget, director Darrell Roodt delivers some excellent photography and shows himself to be talented at creating powerful imagery.

If there are two things that stand out from this film, they are the talents of Roodt and Henstridge. Roodt gives the images style and richness with interesting perspective shots and a number of beautiful location shots. I'd like to see him get a more prominent project where he can put his talents to work. Natasha Henstridge carries the film with an excellent performance that should portend a shot at meatier roles in the future. Her striking appearance and superior acting ability is made even more obvious playing against journeyman Angus MacFadyen, whose performance here helps validate his relegation to supporting roles throughout his career. MacFayden is stiff and forced, contributing little to the believability of his character. As mediocre as MacFayden is, Liam Waite is worse. Peter Fonda gives a nefarious performance in a minor role.

This film isn't bad for a B movie and shows twinkles on the horizon for Roodt and Henstridge. I rated it a 6/10. With a stronger screenplay, it could have been very entertaining.