MovieChat Forums > The Trigger Effect (1996) Discussion > 8.5/10 movie

8.5/10 movie

posted 9 years ago by StarWarsMoviesSuck
1 reply | jump to latest

My dad hated the movie, and it's received little love over the year, but I think it's a brilliant movie. I guess I wasn't bothered by the slow pace and the 'whole lot of nothing' aspect of it.

-The dynamic between the two brothers and the wife is done excellent; they're approaching middle age and can't quite reconcile the new realities of their lives. The marriage looks destined for divorce, and the end provides no resolution - only ambiguity. I also like how they interact.. they are young adults and like to drink and have a laugh, and clearly miss their fleeting youth.

-It was crash before crash.. I can agree that the movie is basically a white people movie with a set-piece token black man, but the portrayal is really well done by the actor imho. In the end the angry black man ends up being the savior for the family.

-I like how mcloughlin's character gets prodded out of him by events, causing conflicts with just about everybody.

-The subject material - it's clearly more relevant today than the 90s. As we are mired in an age of impending resource scarcity, poor geopolitical governance and general economic doom, the movie really stands out. Yes it's very unrealistic for all of the events in the movie to take place as they did, but it was a thriller, and as far as thrillers go I thought it hit the mark.

8.5 is what I give it

[–] WarpedRecord 9 years ago

Very well put, both in your post and your name. I saw this on the big screen when it was released, and I just revisited it on DVD almost 20 years later. It holds up well.

Those expecting an action film are very likely to be disappointed, but those who would prefer an examination of societal malaise, circa 1996 (and beyond) are likely to be very rewarded. This would probably work better as a stage play because the dialogue is razor-sharp.

I can't say I liked this quite as much as you did because some of the attempts at suspense fall flat, but it's still a solid 7/10 stars from me.