Premonition

I read some negative reviews of this movie before I went to see it. They were completely misguided! The movie is both intelligent and emotionally appealing. The actors are excellent. The literary symbols are consistent and right on the mark for the destination of this very well-made film. It is important to keep in mind that the movie is made on a time-line of contingencies, so that what would otherwise be inconsistent actually can make sense in light of changes introduced by the non-sequential experiences of Sandra Bullock's character. I suppose those looking for some kind of horror movie or brain-blank thriller (both of which can be enjoyable in their own light) might not have enjoyed it. But those looking for a narrative worth following, a message with some significance, and a generally well-made movie ought to see it.

Despite the rather thorough drubbing it suffered at the hands of some of the nation's most prestigious critics, "Premonition" is actually a pretty well-thought-out and tightly wound thriller, given emotion and heart by its star, Sandra Bullock. It's not a movie I would be wiling to go to the mat for, but as throwaway thrillers go, this one is really not half bad.

Bullock plays Linda Quinn Hanson, a suburban mother of two, who receives the shattering news that her husband has been killed in an auto accident. However, when she wakes up the next morning, she finds him, strangely, sitting in the kitchen, suddenly alive and well, benignly sipping coffee before heading off to work. The question quickly arises, did she dream the story of his death, is she dreaming now, or is she undergoing some sort of mental crisis precipitated by the shock of her loss? Or is she caught in some sort of bizarre time warp that allows her to jump back and forth between the periods before and after his "death," and, if so, might she be able to step in and alter the course of events to prevent the accident from happening in the first place?

In both concept and form, "Premonition" is pretty much an assembly-line thriller designed to tweak the audience's brain cells for a couple of hours before sending everyone home with not a whole heck of a lot left to think about once it's over. Still, it's intriguing enough while it lasts and only the true nitpickers among us will feel compelled to put its twists and turns in logic under the scrutiny of a critical microscope. Despite a few weak moments in her performance, Bullock actually makes us care about the character and the very strange thing that is happening to her.

"The Premonition" is by no means a classic - or even first rate - chiller, but those with a few spare hours on their hands and a penchant for brain-puzzlers could do worse than check it out.

Time travel, eh? What a tricky old subject it is. Never seem to get it quite right, do they, these filmmakers? They always seem to drop a clanger that's caught not only by those film geeks who can spot obscure meaningless anachronisms that nobody else cares about, but even those who are paying only passing attention (eg. the older daughter doesn't have scars when she should). On top of this, the character caught up in this time-hopping conundrum resolutely fails to do the one thing every ordinary person would do in the same situation: try to break the chain of events. If the reasoning of this film is to be followed the outcome would be the same, but at least there would be a little logic involved.

Sandra Bullock plays the depressed housewife who, for no apparent reason, finds herself batted back and forth in time like a ball of wool between a kitten's paws. Every time she wakes up she finds herself one side or the other of her husband's death and very slowly pieces together the pieces of the puzzle. For the most part her predicament is surprisingly uninvolving, possibly because the writers neglected to give her any sort of character whatsoever, just a set of predictable responses to fantastic situations. Only at one brief moment, when Bullock asks her screen mother, 'If I let Jim die, is that the same thing as killing him?' does the film even remotely look as if it is going to go off in some interesting direction. Unfortunately, that idea is dropped as quickly as it is suggested, and the film lumbers toward one of those predictable conclusions that used to be a twist when Rod Serling wrote it in the 50s.

The film isn't boring, but it isn't particularly interesting either. Bullock does what she's paid to do, but she's a lightweight actress at the best of times so, really, you should know what to expect when you see that she's appearing in this type of film.

I really had no interest in seeing Premonition, the trailer in itself looked very confusing, but it was my friend's pick tonite, so her, me, and a few friends saw it and it pretty much lived up to our expectations. I mean, it was a little better, but the story just in some ways did not work and not to mention that the ending was a disappointment. Because I do not want to give any spoilers, I'm not going to give away anything, but there is a daughter who is injured in the movie and her injuries are a continuity problem throughout the film, like the first scene, but you'll see what I mean.

Linda is a mother and wife, pretty typical days that usually involve taking the kids to school, working out, and cleaning house. She is also involved in a marriage that has lost it's spark, but unfortunately one day she finds out that he was killed in a car accident. But the next day, she wakes up and he's alive! Day by day, it changes where he is dead, then alive, then dead, then alive; but slowly she puts the pieces together by writing herself a day by day diary and finds out truly what happened.

The acting was alright and the story just could have been better. The ending was a little off, you'll see what I mean. But the story just had some flaws that I couldn't get by, it was just an average thriller that you could figure out in the first hour if you are used to the "suspense thrillers". So, I would recommend you wait this one for a rental, it's nothing exciting, just an alright movie that you might enjoy at home.

5/10

Sandra Bullock has to try to figure out if her husband is a live or dead as she shifts through time and dream to sort out her life and his possible death.

New Age-y story is too confusing and less than engaging in a Lifetime style supernatural tale for the big screen. TV movie feel aside the film suffers from doubling and tripling back on itself about nine times too many so that when you get to the end, the "THIS IS REAL" moment you really won't care since you'll have ad the wool pulled over your eyes once too often. I saw this in the theater and began to play a video game on my cellphone to pass the time to the end because I didn't care what was happening I just wanted to know what the end really was(and lest you think I disturbed anyone by doing so, I was all alone). Whats worse my reaction at the end was a loud "Thats it?" said in disbelief.

Its movies like this that make you wonder why we go to the movies when they throw such crap at us.