The Suspects

When I accessed the reviews for Columbus Circle, I couldn't believe all the negativity surrounding this production. Apparently, after this was made, there was no studio willing to release it theatrically. It went straight to video. I sometimes don't listen to the multitude of reviews that surround a certain film, preferring to make my own opinion. After viewing this, I found it to be a surprisingly good and watchable film with a good story, good acting and good directing. This was an original story which had a good denouement, very satisfying. I suppose that there was not enough sex and violence in this production to serve the prurient tastes of the mass audience. Tastes have changed much in recent years and I guess that there isn't much of an audience for a film that does not rely on CGI effects or gratuitous sex and violence. I even liked the main title sequence, which would not have been out-of-place on a suspense film made in the fifties or sixties. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I liked this.

Considering the initially negative but not very eloquent comments about this movie but the promising trailer, I figured I might be in for a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, that was not really the case. And I would usually not review a movie like this because it is neither something I would recommend, nor something I would recommend to stay away from.

Yes, the premise is nothing new (but how many movies each year does one see where that is really the case?) and the acting is cringe-worthy in a lot of places (I especially could not believe the performance in some of Selma Blair's and Amy Smart's scenes - both of whom I found great in virtually every movie I've seen them in) but still, I think it is a nice little story.

I find it ironic how people reviewing this call various elements stupid while at the same time lacking the ability to comprehend Selma Blair's character. Especially considering that it is really very simple from a logical point of view. I don't see a point writing a review that contains spoilers, so I won't say anything more about this. But as always, a little empathy goes a long way and will make the viewer realize the motivations for certain things happening. Although I will not deny that some of them seem odd, rushed, out of character at first glance, many of these can be explained if given just a bit of thought.

Overall, I would say that it is a mildly amusing but pretty forgettable movie that is probably best experienced when not paying full attention to it.

The story might be so predictable that it could actually hurt you, but the movie is still really entertaining. Maybe you have to have a little love (in you) for those kinds of thrillers, but the actors are giving their best with the material they have. Jason Lee might actually be the weak link here, but it's the character that doesn't seem to suit him. He tried something different, but I'm pretty sure most people will find him not convincing enough.

You could read a bit of social critic in this I guess, if you wanted to, but I saw it more as an entertaining thriller than anything else. The ending might not be to everyone's taste (morally or otherwise), but I thought it was a nice fit.

Before watching this movie I wanted to like it. Being a fan of many of the actors in this movie I thought it had the potential to be unknown yet good movie, unfortunately that is not the case.

The premise was interesting a murder takes place in the room opposite from a woman with Agoraphobia and hasn't left her apartment in 11 years and from then on the direction of the film follows around this character. From then on the movie starts to fall apart, some of the acting verges on being poor,many of the films concepts become implausible and the films conclusion is just embarrassing.

However, the film isn't a complete loss, the story is enough to keep the movie at least quite interesting and is filled with many twists some of which lead to the films finest moments. Also, Kevin Pollak and Giovanni Ribisi put in performances that are at least rather good which is a shame due to their limited screen time.

In the end the film is so concerned in throwing as many twists as possible into it that it forgets in how to carry a story and in the end is left in a mess. In my opinion the movie is watchable yet but not good and I would be shocked if anybody were to find this movie anything higher than good. If presented with the opportunity of watching other movies viewers should look into taking a chance elsewhere.

A good watch...not academy material but very entertaining. The plot may not exactly shine but the accomplished actors make up for its shortcomings. Only the directing could have made this a better film. Character development could have been better as well but is average considering the run time.

This won't exactly be on rotation in my movie library but I could stand to watch this more than once.

I don't know why this hasn't gotten better reviews. I hear all the complaints but if you actually watched this movie and LISTENED to what the actors said you might have enjoyed it more.