Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Stir of Echoes

wOOt. Another one for 1999 and a bit of Kevin bacon magic to make it work. 
Simply put, Tom your everyday Chicago man challenges a friend to hypnotize him. But after the ordeal it seems the effects of hypnosis haven't worn off when he is seeing unsettling things. As Tom pieces his crazy visions together he has to consider whether he is losing his mind or perhaps he is sensing something else...


 ...I usually try to steer clear of ghost thrillers where the antagonist has to help the dead blah blah blah with an exception to Sixth Sense (aka- I see dead people) But in this case the plot was interesting, not bordering any major cliches and Kevin bacon did a kick-ass performance. For some reason KB seems to be very skilled at pulling off the "deranged man" look. I mean he's certainly not ugly in mainstream opinion but he has a face that says "there's a dark brooding craziness deep inside me" You could even go so far as to say he looks like the guy who's going to marry some chick so he can murder her and their kids 10 years down the track due to insanity. But so far it hasn't happened.

Of course the movie has a semi-happy ending but all is not lost. It covered a few touchy areas with KB's character too including Tom's fading away dreams of being something bigger then his boring day-job. And it also covers Maggie's  (Tom's wife) struggle with the possibility of having a husband falling to insanity. And besides the obviously designated scenes for this emotion and that memory the way Kevin Bacon portrayed his character even before the hypnosis incident suggests a man slowly dying inside, a man not entirely on the same page as everyone else. KB isn't legendary but he is very, very kick-ass. It's just a shame his last name sounds so lame! 

But enough insults and flattery. The bottom line is it's a great film worth watching whether you hate ghost thrillers or not. And if you watch it really late at night like I did it'll be even better. 
8 out of 10. Watch it.

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