Horse Jump Ending (SPOILER ... so what?)

shine-2^

Well, many of us DO like this movie.

I watched it first time last night, with zero expectations. I hadn't heard of the film before picking it up along with many others at a store closing sale -- I basically scanned over the cover and threw it in my lot without much thought. Last night, I just wanted to watch a DVD of something I hadn't seen before and so pulled this one from my collection.

I thought, because it was late, that I would probably fall asleep midway through and finish it today, but I ended up fully awake and watching it all the way through.

Sure, there were some plot holes. Some of the music used in the film was well-placed and some ill-placed. And, the 'reveal' at the end was too longwinded.

However: I liked the story overall; liked the doctor/wife relationship, especially the linking of the two all the way back to childhood (age difference between the two actors notwithstanding -- did not detract me at all away from the story); liked the idea of getting the mysterious email 8 years later; liked the interactions between the doctor and Bruno; liked the twists and turns throughout; thought the female villian was one of the most parsimoniously chilling torture-types that I have seen in a long time; liked the handling of the involvement of several characters in one film (the French seem to be able to pull this off in ways that America cinema can't or won't); liked the dog finally achieving some kind of importance to the plot (initially, I thought the dog was rather gratuitous until later in the film); thought some camera-angle shots were very well-done but were so quick (thus, were not self-indulgent, IMHO) that if a viewer did not have an informed appreciation for how difficult those are to do, that this bit of directorial expertise could easily be missed and so to my semi-trained eye, I thought they were tasty touches; liked the acting; liked the 'will they ever meet up again or not?' cliff-hanging throughout; and, liked many of the action scenes (and, I am not usually an 'action flick' kind of gal).

So, more 'pros' than 'cons' for me regarding this movie!

I hear it was made from an American novel and I just might now order the book and read it. I would like to see how some of what appeared to be 'plot holes' in the movie are handled in the novel.

regards, denise1234 :)



"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois