Danika

I watched quite a few films last year, and "Danika" made it to the top of my list for intellectual quality and brilliance. It's hard to comment on it without giving away details and spoilers, so let me just say, this movie takes your full attention (don't cook dinner and try to keep up!) Tomei is NEVER a disappointment. It's a wonder she isn't in more films these days. She is a little older than her fresh-faced "Only You" days, but time has settled kindly on her, giving her more character instead of so-called 'flaws.' The ending will leave you in somewhat of a stunned silence, and then you will sit there and watch all of the loose ends tie themselves neatly together. You will not walk away from this movie confused or wondering what it was all about - unless you weren't paying close attention all along. I admit, there will be boo-hooers who dislike it because they haven't the patience or the depth to grasp the true meaning behind this film, but this is why Danika is a work of art and it's star a true artist. If it were neat and pat like any good mainstream film, it wouldn't be the hidden jewel that it is. Many will pass it by, others will scoff and tear it apart. Let them. Those who grasp it will be those who tend to think a bit deeper than the first layer of the onion. Danika is a piece of abstract art - viewing it from different angles, you will see details that aren't visible to the casual onlooker.

Not for the squeamish, pick it up sometime and give it the credit it deserves!

To look at the premise, and definitely to start watching, there are familiar narrative strains in 'Danika'; I think of one title in particular that came out just a few years before this one. That doesn't mean that another rendition can't be worthy - and if nothing else is true, the occurrences the protagonist experiences are distinctly horrifying, and increasingly so. Joshua Leibner's screenplay does a fine job of maintaining a strong air of mystery about the narrative, and conjuring major uncertainty about what is real or not. Just as much to the point, there's unmistakable complexity in the lead role that Marisa Tomei navigates with all the great skill we know she possesses; between the visions and the increasingly erratic behavior, the picture comes off foremost as a thriller, but with a considerable sense too of psychological horror. This may not be wholly perfect, but 'Danika' is duly engaging and compelling, and pretty solid.

All the blood, gore, stunts, and effects that go into realizing the more jarring moments are very well executed, helping the incidents to feel as real as they could be for the audience. It helps that so capable a cast is assembled; led by Tomei, everyone demonstrates fine nuance, range, and personality to bring the story to life. Able direction and sequencing work to amplify all the vitality there is in the screenplay, with varied scene writing focused around the protagonist's seemingly broken sense of reality. All the contributions of those behind the scenes are swell.

All this is well and good. However, there does come a point where the story makes a sea change, and the last stretch of the picture is straightforward drama. It's very well done, and fairly impactful, with heartbreaking but important and commendable themes spotlighted in the last scene especially. Only - these last minutes are a major break from the sensibilities that 'Danika' had been fostering all along, and so it feels like a curveball. The plot is complete and coherent, and ultimately very worthwhile, even as a couple scenes may feel a tad maudlin. Above all, I just wish the writing were slightly more even and consistent one way or another, especially in tone, for that would have made all the difference.

When all is said and done I do quite like this. I think every constituent part stands fairly tall, and it's reasonably engrossing. It just doesn't necessarily stand out compared to other movies of a similar broad thrust Ultimately it's more a drama/thriller with tinges of horror on the edges, and with that in mind - especially for fans of Tomei or others involved, this is a decent way to spend 80 minutes.

Relatively new cinematic team of director Ariel Vromen and writer Joshua Leibner pounce onto the scene with a surprisingly fine little film that has basically gone unnoticed. DANIKA is a story that demands the viewer's careful attention and rewards that attention with a finely wrought surprise ending. This is a tough movie to review: almost anything that is said about it diminishes the impact of a fresh look.

Danika (the superb and grossly underused actress Marisa Tomei) is a beautiful, well-dressed successful professional woman, loved by her husband Randy (Craig Bierko) and her children Kurt (Kyle Gallner), Lauren (Nicki Prian) and Brian (Ridge Canipe). Yet even from the opening scenes we can tell something is amiss: Danika 'sees' disturbing things, terrifying events and people that alter her attention to her job and her family. She visits a young psychiatrist Evelyn (Regina Hall) who becomes her confidant - the only person who accepts that Danika is witnessing disturbing sights. A mixture of critical pieces of disastrous events flash before Danika's eyes as well as flashbacks to some years back when her children were young. Danika overcompensates for her fears by being an overprotective mother, an unfortunate trait that begins to fracture her family.

The pace of the film changes to rapid fire events as the reasons for Danika's visions become clear: we finally see just what made this brilliant and strong woman the victim of a terrified and disturbed psyche and the manner in which each of the characters in the story impacts this discovery is well-illuminated. The surprise ending scene is a stunner and one that will haunt the viewer.

Marisa Tomei makes this very difficult, well-written role completely believable. She is an actress of enormous gifts. Likewise the remainder of the cast offers such fine ensemble work that credit must be given director Ariel Vromen for being a young talent on the rise. Yes, there are some portions of the film that beg credibility but then that is what delusional thinking is about. This is a tight little film that deserves attention. Grady Harp

This is one those movies that are hard to review , except for the fact that this is not a horror movie - at all. I guess I would call it a thriller, but that isn't quite right either. There's not much that can be said about the movie without spoilers so I won't.

It's actually pretty decent movie, well made. But at the same time it's a little boring and unfulfilling. I don't regret watching it, but it didn't leave me with any good feelings.

I like Marisa Tomei, and I wanted to like this film, but it didn't work for me. It kept me interested up to a point, but it played out like a dull, overlong episode of Ghost Whisperer, with a terrible ending.