Second Skin

The problem with this movie is the leaden touch of Darrell Roodt.

Pretty photography and an absolutely gorgeous lead babe can't hide the fact that there is no plot, that the girl is getting involved with a guy who has the charisma of a rotting potato and that by the time you get to the mystery, you've really stopped caring.

The movie _slowly_ meanders from one cliche to the next. Guy without a past runs a bookstore without clientele, when a beautiful babe comes in and spouts a number of tacky cliches. Then, in the mother of all plot devices, she walks out the store and _gets hit by a car_ so she can "lose her memory".

Who cares? I don't. A waste of money.

I liked this movie right from the beginning. It's obvious by the way it looks that it isn't a blockbuster, but it certainly was entertaining, moody, and well executed. I especially liked the music, which added to the atmosphere of the film, and was written by former Prince band members Wendy & Lisa. It stars the lovely Natasha Henstridge as a mysterious woman who wanders into a small bookshop looking for work. The dubious owner is sceptical at first, and refuses her request even though he is attracted to her. But he is soon drawn to her, as he witnesses her being run over as she leaves his store. Many good plot twists and turns follow, in this stylish thriller.

But the ending was unsatisfying, and left me wanting more.

Standard mob story with pretty girl falling for the wrong guy. She ends up with amnesia and starts her life over with the guy who happened to be there. Lots of behind the scenes intrigue going on, with secrets being kept by everyone. Tough to tell who is scamming who, and just how we got to this point of payback. It all comes apparent in the end, but by then you really don't care. The characters do there lines okay, but not much to work with. He gets the pretty girl, but there is no spark and no reason to believe she would ever be with him. Maybe if they used different actors, then the emotion would have been better. Then we would try to believe the mystery or even bother to understand it. This looks like it could have been okay, but along the way it just ends up flat.

I loved this movie. It was so beautifully shot and the acting was terrific across the board. It was great to see Angus Macfadyen from Braveheart in a completely different role. And Natasha Henstridge is a terrific actress. The story was very fun. Lots of twists and turns. And one great turn in the end. I loved the music. I looked up the credits and it was by Wendy and Lisa of Prince fame. Check out Peter Fonda for a wickedly tongue in cheek bad guy. All in all a fantastic stylish film. Why wasn't this in the theatres!

I caught this movie on TV after watching a rather suspicious promotional trailer. The first scene with the sensual Natasha Henstridge dressed in a semi-transparent white dress hooked me and I decided to give the movie a try.

The first half of Second Skin is pretty tolerable. I felt I was watching a fair and honest low budget noir picture, certainly moving toward some major twists. But I could never expect the plot could become so flawed and the second half of the movie could become so lame and dreary.

This predictable, cliché-ridden movie could have been interesting. The music and the photography create a nice, moody atmosphere. Henstridge is, well... sensual as the femme-fatale, and MacFadyen is ok as the guy running from his past. Even though I don't like the way some scenes are cut, the real problem is the plot which turns out to be some kind of mess in the second half of the movie.

After the 90 minutes of Second Skin it's frustrating to realize probably nothing will linger in your memory apart from the beauty of Henstridge.