Si j'étais toi

I was browsing movies in Wal-Mart and came upon the movie. I saw that David Duchovny was in it and naturally wanted to buy it. I did so and went home and watched the film. I myself am in no way into movies where people switch bodies. Whether it is Freaky Friday, or Its a Boy Girl Thing, Transference movies do not interest me. This is nothing like those. They do not switch bodies, but yet the mothers soul seems to migrate into the daughters.

The story itself i really enjoyed. You have a daughter in her teens rejecting her mother because it is not cool, at times wishing she wasn't her mother. It is when the mother goes into the daughters body that the movie begins to take shape. It was not the performance by David, but yet the performance by Olivia Thirlby that blew me away. This being one of her first movies, i was extremely shocked. She plays the mother/daughter character absolutely amazingly and i was really astonished at the job she was doing.

I recommend this movie. As said before, i myself am not into transference movies, but this one really got to me. I really felt for the characters in this film, and thought it ended quite beautifully. I usually do not write reviews, but i saw this one did not have any, and thought that i would write my own. This may not be the best review, but i am new at it. Please see the movie. It is quite enjoyable for those who give it a try.

This film had a decent cast, but some of them didn't seem to fit their parts. Now David Duchovny did a pretty good job. He seemed normal and the parts when he was losing it, he was very believable. Lili Taylor did a good job, but I wish she was in it more. Olivia Thirlby plays the daughter of Duchovny and Taylor. The mom's soul goes into the daughter, so through most of the movie, Thirlby had to pretend to act like Taylor. At parts it seemed like she was, but other parts not so much. I did on the other hand like the story a lot. The ending was a little off for me, but it wasn't terrible. The movie really didn't have a scare factor. The film sets itself up to be scary, but it is not. It is mentally creepy though. If you pay attention to the characters, you will see what I am talking about. So overall, it was decent, but not the best of its genre.

The story is pretty contrived, but it's easy to look past that because it is more about the relationship between the characters instead of the mystery or whatever of a mother being trapped in her daughter's body. It's a film well worth watching for the superb performances from David Duchovny (who has quickly become a huge obsession of mine) and especially Olivia Thirlby who convincingly portrays this adult soul trapped in her teenage body. She was absolutely brilliant and will probably stay in at least my top ten by the end of the year. Even more impressive was the fact that this was actually her first role ever in film, just other stuff got released before it. The two of them were devastating together and worked so well, which is outstanding because of the age difference. They did a great job of moving seamlessly between such a wide range of emotions from sexual repression to jealousy to anger.

This movie turned out to be a total emotional roller coaster for me. I haven't cried so much for a long time. The combination of real life drama with fiction made the movie feel very spiritual and much deeper than most realistic dramas feel. Apart from the supernatural premise, the rest of the movie is very realistic and well acted. Duchovny's performance is excellent and I love the peaceful aura he always portrays. When it comes to Olivia all I can say is that her beauty and acting talent go hand in hand to create a heartbreakingly beautiful synergy. She strongly reminds me of Milla when she was younger. This film contains such a rich and complex artistic portrayal of some of the most beautiful and painful aspects of life that I'm tempted to consider it epic. I think this is a prime example that cinema is evolving in the right direction. Thank you so much for creating art like this.

Even though his performance was decent for the most part, it was still horrible casting. Duchovny can do comedy and wit, but show emotion? Too forced Dave, too forced.

The Secret was a good surprise though. After a horrible car crash involving Benjamin Morris's (Duchovny) wife and daughter, the man becomes involved in a horrible occurrence. Turns out, that after dying, the spirit of the mother becomes trapped in the body of the reawakened daughter. Freaky Friday much?

The body swap idea that has been seen from time to time has been given a more mature approach here. The mother has to get an education that she didn't get, via her daughter's body; she also has to experience teenage angst, constant attacks by horny males, and the self realization that she is she, but she is not she. Ben believes her, but things get far more psychologically complex as the movie progresses. Thankfully, nobody asks advice from a priest (about damn time).

The script was well done, but what made it above average were the characters and situations that arose. Plot holes further hurt the movie, not to mention Duchovny's unconvincing portrayal as a father who EASILY gets aroused by her daughter's possessed body. Maybe it was because of the director (Vincent "Crow 2" Perez), or maybe it was because of both.

Now, Olivia. What a magnificent, tour-de-force performance you gave here. You did everything Dave didn't do- convince. People, better watch this one, she has a bright future ahead of her. Lilly Taylor gives a subtle performance here, almost too subtle. You forget about her the minute she stops showing up in the movie. Wait, what she in the movie?

Statement: The Secret is a huge surprise. Almost too huge. I expected a clichéd Dragonfly, but I got an intelligent viewing. Not to mention that this movie features one of the best performances of 2007 by the beautifully talented Olivia Thirlby. You can't expect much more than this I'm afraid, but you won't expect much by looking at the DVD cover.

6.7/10