L'ombre du passé

So he made this movie ................

AKA: See JRM run.

Horror shows are not my thing, but I wanted to see JRM in something besides a Henry VIII cod piece, so I watched this movie. This view-it-once movie.

AND it also has Joe Pantoliano who I always enjoy. PLUS!!! Geoffrey Owens. I think he is one of the best under rated character actors we have.

This movie is a mishmash of stuff that does not mesh (mash) well together at all - it's like a recipe of things that are usually really good, but don't quite fit together in this manner. The only thing I truly enjoyed - besides Joe P and Geoffrey O, were the buildings in NYC. Those were spectacular! Especially the older ones.

All that said - I used it to cleanse my viewing palate of very heavy duty films. And it did the trick! Plus, it was in English, so I wasn't tethered to the TV and could roam around and still keep up with what was happening.

I would say it IS worth the watch - once. Just so you can say you saw JRM sans a cod piece or monk's robe!

PS - Reviewers who comment on actors looks (especially negatively) really need to stop it. IMHO.

So many loose ends, so many things didnt make any sense. Shame really cause it could have been good. Like didnt someone in charge watch it before it went out? They should have demanded it made sense.

The great joy of watching, or reading, a mystery, thriller, or psychological what-not is what we believe the outcome will be...and what it actually is. We think of the 'clues' the incidents that should lead to the eventual conclusion, the confusions, the misconceptions... 'Hide and Seek' is exasperating. You can guess along with the muddling plot and actions. You try to go along with it...You try to find logical conclusions..... Not this time!!! The plot meanders all over the place, and it is not a spolier to say.....'What the hell is going on'? We are left with questions that only indicate that somewhere along the line, an hour of plotwas losston the editing room. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? I defy you to answer the basics.

The suspense was fine, as well as the acting. There were some nice little twists now and there and it was not predictable.

Is someone messing with the main character or is he messing with others? Is he losing his mind? Who is the villain and what do they want? Enough to keep you guessing til the very end.

However, it feels like it was meant to be a three hours movie and somehow it got cut into less than hour and a half.

As a result, there are subplots that literally go nowhere, underdeveloped characters and motivations, background stories that never get explored in a meaningful way, very vague hints at something possibly important about the characters and so on.

Haven't seen the original Korean movie yet, but this one kinda makes want to do it in order to place all the missing pieces together.

This was an ok one time watch and nothing more. A tad bit slow but the build up of the story remained stabled enough to follow. Rhys Meyer played a solid lead throughout but it was more cameoish for Joe P. Nothing to write home about so if you have nothing else on your to watch list and have time to burn, this will not disappoint. On a another note, I have to say that Rhys Meyers and Barett are both ten years younger than me (I'm in mid my 50s) and they both look older than I am....wow. Never forget that your body is temple. I digress.