Fortune Defies Death

Although this murder mystery is cleverly written, shot and performed, all the scenes and dialogues are wisely calculated, I wouldn't recommend it to those who straightly look for a thriller with busy actions and lousy murders - this is just not that kind.

The movie contains many witty snubs - there is one scene wherein Stacey, the rich man's sister who always quarrels with her sly nephew Charlie, claims, "He's my brother", then Charlie replies, "I'm blood, too". There are many witty remarks like that, but I'm not going to spoil it here. Nonetheless, I enjoyed very much with their humorous talks, but they can be serious too, when the murder takes place. Intriguing story with classy writing style. Highly recommend this to those who especially enjoy smart jokes and a clever mystery.

No film is made for everyone, even the greatest film like Titanic, it has 24,557 voters gave it "1". Really? Seriously? So the good film doesn't have to please everyone, but you've got to stick to a few things: A good premise, for example, it would draw people's attention in the first place. This film's premise is about the will reading lagging for 10 years with the condition of the daughter gone missing. Pretty good, huh? But there are a lot of films with a good premise, so I wouldn't be so fancy for it, rather give it 7 and continue my journey... Usually writing a good suspense movie is hard, you need a lot of planning because it builds the case upon the information given in the early time. In this film, such as Nadia's memory loss, the party photos used to solve the murder, checking necklace authenticity to verify the horrific truth... there are stuff implanted precisely but really depend on your own perception, if you're a good mind-hunter and paying attention for details, then you would find it more appreciated, otherwise it's a waste because everything planted is just subtle. But I like it being subtle. So I think it deserves 9. People might agree with me that the ending can either lift you up or smash you down. I understand that the climax and the ending should be separated because some film may have a super climax but fails flat at the end. But I think this film has done reasonably well because the surprises and puzzles are finally tied together as a whole for a solid resolution, so it's worth 9 in my opinion. For the rest of it, such as casting/performance, camera/lighting/sets, editing/sound/music, they are all fair enough even though there are some roughness along the way, nevertheless considering this kind of budget, I would be happy to make it average in 8. Hope you enjoy the film like I did.

The family lawyer plays a smooth and moderate host to great effect, and the rest of the group is also believable - they have so much fun when interact with each other in the room - I really enjoy some of the wise and humorous dialogues. I think the locations are all natural and beautiful. The story has a strong backbone with different timeframes told through flashbacks, all of which can get you very emotional. Regardless of number of death, I prefer it defined as a mystery drama over a thriller. If you're a type of essential horror flicks lovers, then perhaps this is not for you.

There are many good things about this movie. But the most brilliant part is where some scenes are "cut" half-and-half: one half from an objective perspective and the other half from a subjective perspective. A good example is when two guys talk "physically" in their private room first, then in the later half is only from the lawyer's vision. Since these two parts follow the same logic under same condition, you wouldn't even notice the difference when it goes on as one continuous plot - which makes the subjective point of view convincingly believable. Overall, 7/10 from my opinion, but adding this mastery up, I would give it one more clap.