Wander

The story is very confusing and tried to be too clever. The events weren't explained so well, and there are numerous twists. I don't actually know what really happened.

This is a movie that should be better than it is. The actors are fine, the storytelling and editing are suspect. Also some of the dialog is very difficult to understand, requiring subtitles turned on at times we wanted to be sure of what was discussed. It takes place in the fictional New Mexico town of Wander where everyone knows everyone else and strangers in town are stopped and warned. A paranoid detective, deep into conspiracy theories, is hired to investigate the real cause of a death, a woman found in the middle of the road with a deep wound in her chest near her heart. The editing is jumpy and somewhat erratic, you are often not sure what you are seeing and if it is present or flashback, or even imagined by the paranoid detective. I enjoyed the viewing at some level but don't consider it a particularly good movie. The writer and director, a team of sorts, have limited experience with movies and it shows. My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

It's like the script was written by someone who wanted to make money off the popularity of 'conspiracy theories' but they didn't know anything about conspiracy theories. So the writer(s) got together one weekend and surfed a conspiracy theory message board for a few hours, jotted down a few frequently used phrases, then forced them into a nonsensical story.

I finished it wondering who it was made for...because people who loathe conspiracy theorists aren't going to like it. And actual conspiracy theorists are going roll their eyes at all the cliches.

Lastly, I'm a fan of Eckart's but his bug-eyed 'crazy conspiracy theorist' character looked like something I'd see at my local community theater.

Firstly I'll start off by saying I think Aaron Eckhart, Tommy Lee Jones and Heather Graham are all good actors and they do a decent job in the movie. However, Eckhart's acting is a bit over the top sometimes that it almost comes across as a cheesy B-movie, especially the shots when it's zooming out from his face when he's having flashbacks or waking up.

The story itself was quite predictable, at about the halfway point you can hazard a guess about the main character, although they don't explain much in the movie. At times I found this movie a bit boring and slow despite it being only 90mins.

Some of the shots and the sequencing also weren't enjoyable either as it was just all over the place much like the story. I also wasn't a fan of the ending. When it all happened I didn't feel any emotion for the character at all other than being glad the movie was over.

Finally, this was just a small nitpicking thing, but if you are paranoid like the main character and afraid of being spied on that you are constantly changing your phone SIM card, you definitely would not plug a random usb stick into your laptop that has been mysteriously slipped through your door.

One day in the far distant future mankind will uncover all the secrets of the universe. The last thing uncovered will be what the heck this movie's about.