A Little Trip to Heaven

i have to say that this was a well acted, very well directed little offering, i would like to have seen more of Peter Coyote as i thought he portrayed the part of the Investigator with relish, and seemed to revel in ensuring people did not receive their full benefits. the whole feel to the film was dark, brooding and you always felt that things could not get any worse for Mr. Renner & Ms. Stiles, but it did. i suppose people will feel this is to dark for their tastes, but these are the dramas that make compelling viewing. Forest Whitaker does a good job and displays a determination to resolve the case that if were true to life, with the income he displayed within his character, i am not sure would be there?

i notice a lot of 10/10's for this movie and think this is unwarranted, but having said that this was a worthwhile effort and should be seen.

Jeremy Renner plays a white trash criminal with a wife played by Julia Stiles, (known from the Jason Bourne movies as the female agent). Husband and wife fake a claim for a million dollar life insurance after they staged an accident. Will they get away with it or will insurance agent Forrest Whitaker find out the truth?

This insurance scam idea is great. Could make for great suspense. Unfortunately the story falls flat, because of some pretty big credibility flaws, things that just WOULD NOT happen in real life during an insurance investigation. Too bad, because the acting is great. However the story just lacks coherence and credibility, so however great the acting is, it still falls flat. With a more credible story this could have been a very suspenseful con movie, but unfortunately now only the directing and acting is left to be praised. What's good though are the many plot twists and turns that kept me curious about how it would all end. Not bad, but not good either. 6 stars.

Funny endnote: the end credits of this icelandic production were rather special because it featured the names of ALL the extras that acted in this movie. That is never done in any other movie. I would love to be an extra myself. Knowing that I have NONE acting skills whatsoever I would be thrilled to play as an invisible extra. And what better proof that you took part then an actual credit with your name at the end!

This movie shows what's great about film festivals. So many movies, and they're not tied down to every Hollywood cliché in the book.

The way Little Trip plays out is hard to describe. Forest Whitaker plays an insurance investigator, a company man. He comes to know Julia Stiles' character, a vulnerable housewife living with an unpredictable screw-up (Renner) on barren tundra.

The relationship between Stiles & Renner was intricate yet believable. And the relationship between Stiles & Whitaker is surprising. I didn't see the ending coming, which I appreciate always. I'm so tired of formulaic thrillers. This movie reminded me of movies from the 70's - the good old days when every plot point wasn't spoon fed. It has style and feeling like classics from that time too.

I got a chance to see this film in Toronto and I have to admit I've been thinking a lot about it since. Visually, it's so beautiful... and yet stark and haunting (apparently it was filmed in Iceland). But what I really found engaging was that it was a noir-esquire mystery but with a very realistic feel. When opportunities present themselves for the film to go down a formulaic road, it doesn't. There's something strangely real about the film, from the first-rate acting, to the dark tone, to the deliberate pace... I think the director's decision to give this film dramatic weight will set it apart from other mystery/thrillers (I feel weird even trying to categorize it). Maybe it's just me, but I can't stop thinking about it.

I went into this screening without any prior knowledge of the film, and I was pleasantly surprised. Well acted and well directed, this is a more mature and deeper "thriller" than we're accustomed to. The story is compelling with enough twists and turns to keep one interested, but what was really riveting was the fact that the movie wraps up neatly but in a thought provoking way, unlike so much predictable Hollywood fluff nowadays. It is a thinking person's film and I appreciated that.

One other thing I wanted to note on was the tone: dark, bleak, isolated, and barren. From the acting to the cinematography, the director really nailed this feeling in everything from the characterizations to the visuals. Just something I really noticed.