Black Butterfly

I have never been accused of holding back my thoughts on reviews I've written for films or music or anything really. I feel it is ones duty, if writing a review from a Laymans perspective to be as honest and forthright as possible.

In my reviews, I do not sugarcoat or bend to please the masses if my opinions are in dire contrast to what most say or think. Also, rather then go into redundant story line explanations which are provided in the synopsis portion of the first page , I try to tell people what I like or dislike and often will oppose or agree with other people's reviews.

That said, "Black Butterfly" was much better then I had anticipated. I will elaborate. First, Rhys-Meyers and Banderas have great chemistry in this film. I think highly of both actors skills to begin with but think they would make a great pairing in another film as they worked so well off each other in BB.

The story line may seem typical at first, as is often the case in the thriller genre, but it most certainly is NOT! I never provide information on narratives or plots that may be considered a "Spoiler" but will say there are some VERY surprising moments in this film with great twists and turns that completely blind-side the viewer.

I love a film where you think you have the proverbial "Killer, cheat, thief etc" right in your cross hairs then the story completely smacks you down and leaves you wondering, "how did that happen"?

With the amount of Drek being made at breakneck speed today it's no wonder film fans abound are pleasantly surprised when a movie can actually trick you or keep you in suspense for more then five minutes throughout the entire film. Between big studio productions, self produced big name Hollywood types and Indie films we are becoming more and more frustrated with the same old C**P being fed to us and packaged as "Bold and new". This is just not the case. In general. Black Butterfly delivers all it promises to and then some.

Let's be honest....there are not many Hitchcock worthy scripts left that have not already been put on film 1000's of times. However, every now and then a very "watchable" film comes our way. This is one of those films.

I can say with confidence, this is almost two hours you will be glad you invested if your into a tricky, well done, well acted, twisty thriller that can easily be recommended to a friend.

By all means, enjoy!

This film tells the story of a reclusive writer, who gets into a fight in a diner. A stranger helps him out, therefore the writer offers the stranger a place to stay. Little does the writer know, things will go the wrong way, and he is soon taken prisoner in his own house.

"Black Butterfly" has a thrilling story. The tension and thrill is palpable, especially when the stranger becomes increasingly deranged. One hour into the film, there is a major twist that gets me lost for a moment, but after making sense of the twist, I find it quite clever. It is a thrilling and an enjoyable film.

I was so close to not recommend it because of the ending. I mean, the final 20 seconds. At first, i hated it. But i thought about it and it probably makes sense if you think who is Banderas' character. Still, i would prefer this movie had a different ending. The one we've watched after the big/penultimate twist happened.

In any case, this is a good mystery/thriller movie. Not a MUST WATCH, not a strong recommendation, there are many better movies to watch, even in this genre. But a fan of this genre will like it. Banderas is not a great actor, still he has a lot of charisma and i like to watch him in movies. Rhys Meyers is amazing, he carries this movie on his shoulders. Perabo is passable.

Watch it without reading anything about the plot. A lot of intense moments. Kinda clever. More mystery than thriller, i mean, if you are looking for action and fights, this is not your movie. Lower your expectations, don't expect something mind blowing and you will enjoy it.

Paul Lopez (Antonio Banderas) is a struggling hard-drinking writer. His career is troubled. His money problem is forcing him to sell his property through realtor Laura Johnson (Piper Perabo). He gets into a road rage incident with a trucker. Drifter Jack (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) comes to his aid. Paul befriends Jack and brings him back to his home.

This thriller takes a big swing. It starts out with a standard creep story which turns into Misery adjacent. I'm fine with that. It has potential especially with good actors. Then the movie takes that big swing. Looking backwards, it's not a reasonable turn. I get the wish for a shocking reveal, but it relies on too many conveniences. The final scene is an acceptance that the twist is a writer's creation. All in all, I applaud them for taking the big swing even if it doesn't completely work.

I really enjoyed Black Butterfly, it was one of those movies that you kind of knew what was happening next, and then things turned out very differently. The 2 main characters were very well acted. I know a negative reviewer was saying alcoholics don't swig out of bottles, well as an alcoholic, I can tell you that was true to life, as was the early morning drinking, and blanking out and waking up in bed. The movie had a great location a secluded ranch style house and the tension was palpable almost from the start. I promise you, the ending was amazing and totally unexpected and a pleasant surprise. Overall a low budget movie which I enjoyed far more than Star Trek Beyond which cost $180 million dollars and which I refused to watch to the end. I am quite critical with movies, read my other reviews. This film is definitely worth viewing with pleasure and interest.