MovieChat Forums > Trauma (2004) Discussion > What a mess!

What a mess!

posted 20 years ago by North_Londoner
6 replies | jump to latest

Marc Evans showed he was talented with 'My Little Eye' but this is dreadful. He pulls out every film-school grad trick in the bag - speeded-up shots, flashback, split-narrative but no tricks could save this sorry shambles. It's a real ragbag of cliches - the spooky janitor, the strange woman with esp, the grizzled cop, the rough-and-ready Scottish best mate, the girl with a phobia, the bloke with an allegorical hobby.

And why is it that no-one can switch on the tv, radio or even walk down a street without coming across this singer. And the chances of a market trader setting up an entire stall selling only merchandise about her, including a t-shirt saying 'Lauren Paris - Cruel Britannia' are as remote as your chance of believing the final plot twist which is so ludicrous you'll be gasping with disbelief.

Evans doubts the intelligence of his audience to the degree that he rams every point home with a sledgehammer - the last 10 minutes make you wonder if he doubted he'd even have an audience and decided to make it so stupid he could claim the whole sorry mess was a p*ss-take.

[–] hey_mr_crow 20 years ago

Word.

[–] moonpig82 19 years ago

I watched this for the 1st time last night & was very disappointed.It was slow,boring,confusing & not even remotely scary.I didnt care about any of the characters & i kept watching in the hope that something interesting might happen but it wasnt to be.I do like movies that are open ended & make you think but when this finished all i thought was "so what?"Can i have the money back that i spent renting this Mr Evans?Or maybe you should use it to make a decent movie that people can get something out of.

[–] cellmaker 16 years ago

This film suffers horribly from being more boring than a textbook. Saying "Oh, but it's an abnormal psychology textbook" doesn't save it.

Poor Colin Firth did a great job of portraying someone that nobody would care about.

Trying to tease out the literal meaning of this film? Why bother?

[–] asgard-5 13 years ago

I couldn't make it through the movie, but it did look good, in parts at least. I guess they lured John Mathieson with a promise of total control over the look of the film and by allowing him to go all out with those silly filters and things.

have a nice life!

[–] fantasyescapist 12 years ago

A disappointment, for sure.

I feel as though you're trying to turn us into decorated f£ck dolls for the pleasure of men.

[–] PACman66 11 years ago

I'm totally in agreement with the lot of you... This film was one confusing piece of garbage. It was a really pretty piece of garbage... But garbage all the same.
I might have to watch this film a few more times to "get it", but I didn't really enjoy this film the first time. So I don't believe I'll ever revisit it again.

Trust me,
Swan
My, you're nosey, aren't you?