The Lost Room

I have to give this movie very high marks because it maintained an incredibly high level of suspense, surprise and novelty through most of its 4.4 hour (without commercials) run-time. This is very unusual for the sci-fi genre - most ideas and plots are very well-known.

I won't give anything away about the story because the unusual plot is is part of the wonderful experience you'll get from watching this movie. Suffice it to say that the story follows a detective who comes across a very unusual key to a very unusual hotel room. Admittedly, it sounds like the movie is going to be a bomb (what I thought), but it is anything but that.

Once you start watching - you'll be hard pressed to stop. The pace is excellent: something interesting is always going on - hardly a moment is wasted during the multi-hour runtime.

This movie could not have been as good without a good strong lead character. Peter Krause does a great job - he presents a well-balanced, intelligent and easy to like character. The supporting characters are pretty well done - even though some of them are a bit wacky. Everything seems to work.

One thing I really appreciated in the movie was the intelligence of its characters. There aren't any ridiculous decisions that are made to advance the plot (or remove characters). In fact, they are mostly very smart ones - so you don't feel shortchanged by the story or the filmmakers. Applaud them in this case. It really makes a story go from interesting to fascinating.

Is it perfect? I can squabble about a few things towards the end - but it doesn't matter. What matters is that I was strongly entertained for 4.4 hours and am going to watch it again.

I could go on, but you'd be better served by watching the movie. This level of film-making will appeal to all moviegoers. Strongly recommended for all.

While investigating a weird murder case in a pawn shop, Detective Joe Miller (Peter Krause) finds that a key opens any door to a mysterious hotel room in another dimension. Joe´s daughter Anna Miller (Elle Fanning), who is his pride and joy, is kidnapped by the criminal Weasel (Roger Bart) that proposes to swap the girl per the key. However, Anna flees and uses the key to escape from the criminals that retrieve the key. Weasel resets the door and Anna is lost in another dimension. Now her father learns that there are sects and people from the underworld using the power of the mysterious objects from the room and he teams up with Jennifer Bloom (Julianna Margulies) from The Legion and the millionaire and collector Karl Kreutzfeld (Kevin Pollak) expecting to rescue his beloved daughter.

"The Lost Room" is mini-series divided in six chapters - The Key, The Clock, The Comb, The Box, The Eye and the Occupant - with a fascinating premise. The story is a sort of "The Twilight Zone" with a good cast. Unfortunately there are many flaws in the conclusion that does not close many situations and forget important characters. Maybe the intention of the producers would be another season that was never done. Anyway the intriguing and original plot entertains. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Though I like fantasy and SF, I have to admit to being fondest of rule-based fantasy, like that of Tim Powers -- as a reader or viewer, you have an idea of what's possible and impossible, despite the supernatural elements of the story. Fantasy without rules is far less satisfactory, since characters in those stories can do whatever the writer arbitrarily decides they can do (or can't), and as a result, the writing is lazier.

"The Lost Room" is all about rules and the characters who find creative ways to abuse them. (Tim Powers fans would like it, I'm sure.) The writers have come up with cool supernatural powers for a host of innocuous looking objects (combs, pens, cards, bus tickets, watches, a key, etc.) Each object has a power and rules to govern them. Many of the powers don't seem that nifty, until you see how creatively they are used. And, along those lines, virtually every scene contains a fun, "Hey, that's a good idea!" move, and they tend to come at you faster than you can anticipate them if you aren't taping the show and hitting pause.

What's best about this is that the writers stick with it all the way. Many of these shows go David Lynch/Twin Peaks on us, setting us up with the promise of great stuff to come, and then disappointing us in a big way later. (Dean Koontz novels always seem to fall apart in this way, at least for me.) "The Lost Room" keeps up its promises all the way to the very end, which, like the rest of the miniseries, is clever and interesting and makes perfect sense in hindsight, given the rules.

I honestly can't think of the last time I saw a miniseries or movie of this ilk that pulled off its ending this well. It's a darned good miniseries, and I sincerely hope it becomes a full-blown series, as apparently is being considered.

This mini-series is quite original and I found it very entertaining. The idea is pretty wild and far fetched but they make a lot out of it. As with so many mini series the first two episodes are better than the 'conclusion' which really only sets possible future episodes up. That being said, this is the best thing I saw on TV this year. The lost room reminds me of 'Dark City' with the surreal reality that it creates. I also liked the fact that ordinary items, or 'objects' are used as props to advance the story in a very cheap yet efficient way.

The production value is good and the atmosphere created is very convincing. The acting is great for a TV production and I wouldn't mind if 'The Lost Room' would be picked up for a full season.

I am thoroughly enthralled by what this show has to offer. I had the benefit of catching a repeat of the first few episodes back to back, and I am hooked beyond belief.

What stuns me is that everything seems to have a purpose behind it. At first, it appears to be an adventure that is random for the sake of being random. However, as the show unravels, there is a strange sense of mystery that would make Sir Arthur Conan Doyle proud. Shows like Lost have failed to grab my attention simply because I felt as if the writers were trying to make a 5-show plot thread last for fifty.

To be honest, I don't believe I've been this hooked on a show since Firefly. The main character could have easily been played by Nathan Fillion to the same effect of character. I hesitate to make any more comparisons; I'd hate for people to think this show is a hybrid of this or that. Something about it makes it completely unique.

I'm looking forward to where this show goes. I actually believe that history will remember this show as a benchmark for things to come.