Passato remoto

Former cop Gene Ralston (Scott Glenn) is haunted by confusion and is writing a hard-boiled crime novel about his new sexy neighbor (Lara Flynn Boyle). He has a sexual fling with her and a woman turns up dead there. More confusion arises. He fears evidence is piling up against him as his partner Larry Talbert (Anthony LaPaglia) investigates. Suddenly, there is a different woman living in that house and the murder never happened.

This starts as a neo-noir. It pushes very hard but that's acceptable. The problem starts with the confusing bits and pieces. It's intriguing when it first begins but soon it becomes tiresome. With all the jumbled pieces, the progression feels rather random. The pieces are all there. The fit is up in the air. At least, it's trying to do something.

First of all, anyone who claims that he or she didn't find this head-scratcher confusing must be the next freakin' Einstein! The plot is maybe more tangled than that of "The Usual Suspects", and there are enough distorted/out-of-chronological order events, half-remembered/repeated/altered lines and "was-it-all-a-dream-or-was-it-real?" tricks to baffle even the most avid mystery fan. Generally, movies with multiple twists and turns can be great fun, but this one is so contrived that it tried my patience. Besides, I don't understand why Lara Flynn Boyle had to whisper almost all of her lines (to come off as "seductive", perhaps?), or why they would pair her romantically with Scott Glenn, an actor almost 30 years older than her. (**)

Not a confusing film, but an intriguing one. Viewers learn more and more, and in the end everything is wrapped up and nothing is left without explanation.

Early on it calls to mind The Lady Vanishes (1937)...but it is different than that. Later on it calls to mind, to some degree, Jacob's Ladder (1990), but it is not that film either. There are aspects that almost seem surreal, until we gradually learn what is going on - there is a definite resolution; this is not like the stereotype of a David Lynch film.

A good suspense film that deals with memory and identity and their unravelling as a mystery.

Lara Flynn Boyle is especially attractive here: softer and not as extremely, frighteningly thin as she has been recently.

The movie "past tense" is rated with an "8" here. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!! I watched the film for about 1 hour, then i turned it of, it was that bad. Very confusing with a lot of flashbacks. One moment the guy seemed to be in very good shape, the next he's in a coma in the hospital. And it started so well, i mean, the 2 main-actors hitting the sack after just 5 minutes, that's a new record for sure,guys.

The promissing cast starts good with nice scenes between the beautiful Lara Flynn-Boyle and Scott Glenn as the sensitive cop. But the story gets so weird: Lots of cheap flashbacks and "mysterious" knifes, glasses and fruits falling on the ground – uuups! – oh, you mean this is suspense? Then watch it. I didn´t enjoy it: 4 out of 10. To less Lara F.B. for to much movie.