Fever

It took me 14 years since the movie's theatrical release in November 2000 to sit through and watch this film written and directed by Alex Winter (best know for starring as Bill in the two film set Bill& Ted's Excellent Adventure and the movie sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey). For the greater percentage of films that make it out to a general release if the director is also the primary writer, the film will not do well at the box office, and for good reason. Writer's who want to direct, and/or director's who want to write a screenplay have a unique perspective that they want full control to present to their audience. Quite frankly, the audience does not want to see a unique "artistic perspective", we want to be entertained.

I read the majority of complimentary reviews of this film that were written a dozen years or so ago, and they all said how talented Alex Winter was as both a writer and director, some comparing his style to Alfred Hitchcock. Oh please, were these reviews written by Alex Winters' close friends and family? If not then roll forward to 14 years later in 2014 and look at Alex winters body of work as either a writer or director and you will see that Hollywood has not been banging down his door with financial backing for any subsequent films.

I rated the film as high as a 4 out of 10 only because of the strong performance of the lead actor Henry Thomas. Unfortunately although Thomas's performance was very real, his face appeared in 95% of the film and his psychotic and delusional behavior was irritating. I also found the lack of any notable musical score presented the film more as a documentary style (which it was not trying to be) than as a thriller. Alex Winter kept throwing in scenes that attempted to provide a film noir, "Hitchcock" approach, but in my opinion the film suffered even more so as a result.

After 14 years since its release and over 500 viewers scoring this films average rating of 6.1, I believe this is a very generous IMDb score. I will not be recommending this film to anyone to waste their time watching, even with the attractive Teri Hatcher playing Henry Thomas's sane sister.

Some viewers may enjoy this type of film premise of a disturbed young man who experiences dream sequences (or are they real?) and coming in and out of reality but it certainly is not my cup of tea. I say pass on this attempt at film noir. I give it a 4 out of 10 and this is generous only due to the good performance of Henry Thomas.

I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival. It blew me away. It's a really detailed examination of paranoia and psychosis - without spoiling the story. I was really impressed with the way the film looked, and the quality of the acting. Alex Winter is from my home town (St. Louis) and I was surprised by how different this film was from his older comedy work. It's a deeply thought-out film, different in a lot of ways from everything else that's out there in the indie scene right now. It takes its subject matter seriously, and doesn't treat the audience like idiots. I had some problems with the pacing of the film - it's slow in some places. And it could have used more of a soundtrack. But it's a really cool movie in spite of its weaknesses. The weird images stayed with me for weeks afterwards. They haunt your dreams.

Extremely atmospheric thriller starts out great, as young artist (Thomas) living in hellish urban apartment grows more and more paranoid as other tenants end up dead. The high production value and Thomas' performance maintain the interest, but the script -- reminiscent of other, better pictures -- goes nowhere fast, with a been there, done that "surprize" ending you can predict 20 minutes into the film. Seriously ruined by a slapped on, cop-out finale that leaves you furious and unsatisfied.

Fever is a difficult film, and I mean that in a good way. I think the director is creating a story about the raw emotions and desires in a young man caught in the modern world. We follow a painter in New York City who is not able to achieve his goals and dreams, and as a result, escapes into an alternate reality. However, this reality is as much of nightmare as his waking life. If not worse. Like Lynch and Cocteau, Winter forces us into this man's subconcious, and asks us to feel the terror and despair that affects this confused mind. I really enjoyed the trip.

To sum-up: Fever is a very dark, shadow-filled look into the formation of emotional disease and discomfort. The acting is very good on Henry Thomas' part as well as the direction by Alex Winter (Bill from the infamous Bill & Ted films) but the storyline has a few out-of-place moments and enough awkwardness to make even the sleepiest of viewers cringe.

Pro's & con's:

+ Henry Thomas' performance (you'll have trouble believing that it's the kid from E.T.)

+ Alex Winter's high quality and sometimes colorful directing style (including some nice, steady camera work which was more fitting for a film like this)

• Very cheap visual effects

• By the time it ends you'll feel like you've wasted your time