Danny Boyle, a renowned director of stage and screen, not to mention a writer, directed the 2014 "Trance" -- and from a brief look at the reviews, people either loved it or hated it.
I hated it.
I'm always fascinated by films about art heists, but this time, I felt let down. That's not to take away from the originality of the story, but for me, it became too convoluted.
In London, an auctioneer, Simon Newton (James McAvoy), helps a gang, headed by a man named Franck, to steal a valuable painting at the auction house. Simon gets into a car accident and claims not to remember where he hid the painting. The gang sends him to a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson), under an assumed name, and record him -- he doesn't say he's looking for this painting, obviously, since it's all over the news, so he says he's looking for his keys.
The hypnotherapist turns out to be quite a character, and one can't really tell for a time if she's in league with the gang or trying to help Simon, as she plays both sides. It all gets kind of crazy from there, with murders, sex, car chases and hypnosis.
I love the plot, and normally, I like a complicated, involved story, but I admit that after a while, I gave up and didn't know what was happening. It reminded me a tiny bit of Memento, but that film was a lot more straightforward. This movie started out suspense and toward the end turned into a crazy horror movie.
The acting was good, with perhaps the exception of Rosario Dawson. First of all, she had an impossible role. Secondly, I am absolutely certain that in some scenes she didn't know what her attitude was supposed to be. It's not too much of a stretch that these actors lost their way in the script as well. I can't imagine anyone having to sit down and read it.
I think Danny Boyle is one of those people who, when he's good, he's fabulous, and when he's less than that, he's confusing.
