HBB
Joined Jul 1999
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Reviews2
HBB's rating
The subject certainly is interesting, the plot has a solid pace. It's not all that often you see an actor/actress play the piano herself, on screen (save for the close-up in real difficult pieces), and come across as actually believable. Franka Potente does, and for both that and the plot I'd have like to give this one a vote of 8. But...
Unfortunately, the make-up department and the special effects crew committed some major crimes of negligence. First, the hair-do of supporting actress Katja Studt playing her role at an advanced age are almost _unbelievably_ bad. It really looks as if someone just jumped into a wig shop on their way to some other, more important business, and took the first one they saw without ever even thinking about how it'd look on a freckled redhead like her. I've seen carnival wigs look more believable than that one.
The other major downfall is an overwhelmingly obvious wax puppet of Franka Potente in a scene where both of her personae are on screen at the same time. I found it looked un-natural enough that it managed to drop the whole scene dead in its tracks. Couldn't help but stare at that puppet instead of paying attention to the movie itself.
Let-downs like that invoke the feeling you're watching a massively under-financed B-movie or student production. If you're a fan of Franka Potente and can tolerate some bad craft work, you'll quite probably like this movie a lot. I didn't.
Unfortunately, the make-up department and the special effects crew committed some major crimes of negligence. First, the hair-do of supporting actress Katja Studt playing her role at an advanced age are almost _unbelievably_ bad. It really looks as if someone just jumped into a wig shop on their way to some other, more important business, and took the first one they saw without ever even thinking about how it'd look on a freckled redhead like her. I've seen carnival wigs look more believable than that one.
The other major downfall is an overwhelmingly obvious wax puppet of Franka Potente in a scene where both of her personae are on screen at the same time. I found it looked un-natural enough that it managed to drop the whole scene dead in its tracks. Couldn't help but stare at that puppet instead of paying attention to the movie itself.
Let-downs like that invoke the feeling you're watching a massively under-financed B-movie or student production. If you're a fan of Franka Potente and can tolerate some bad craft work, you'll quite probably like this movie a lot. I didn't.
I really had expected a bit more out of this one. A glorious cast, lead by Robert de Niro, and a story that looked promising enough, in the preview trailers.
So, this movie at least partly tries to be an action movie? Well, I found myself being so relaxed an unenthralled by the action in the middle of one of the car chases (!) that I decided it might be better to listen for some nice music -- alas, there was none.
The ending -- well, suffice it to say, the film would have been quite a bit better either without the last five minutes, or with at least a little bit more integration of that final revelation into the line of the plot. As it is, it felt as if someone else had decided to finish the story, after all the real writers had gone.
So, this movie at least partly tries to be an action movie? Well, I found myself being so relaxed an unenthralled by the action in the middle of one of the car chases (!) that I decided it might be better to listen for some nice music -- alas, there was none.
The ending -- well, suffice it to say, the film would have been quite a bit better either without the last five minutes, or with at least a little bit more integration of that final revelation into the line of the plot. As it is, it felt as if someone else had decided to finish the story, after all the real writers had gone.
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