greil

29 July 03

"Three Blind Mice" leaves the viewer shattered, trying to make the picture come out differently. Edward Furlong and especially Emilia Fox might seem perfunctorily cast at first; by the time the film is halfway to its end they seem to have merged with their characters. Trapped between computers, highjacked television channels, and all all-stops-out reality show combining B & E, sex crimes, mutilation, and murder, their characters are caught up in a plot they keep trying to convince themselves they can control, knowing they have almost no chance. Fox, so quietly convincing in "The Pianist," here seems capable of going in any direction, and for that matter three directions at once, whiplashing the viewer from one perspective to another. The drama is under pressure--no actor dominates any other, there are no McGuffins, no cheats, no teases, just a momentum that builds so cruelly you may want to forget the film when it's over. Chances are you will have to see it again.