The Voices

A truly underrated film. It has a brilliant performance from Ryan Reynolds, in a role that is pretty unusual for him, and allows him to get out of his typical action stereotype, as he really is a great comedic and dramatic actor, when paired with the right script.

A curiously sinister yet funny tone that simultaneously makes you want to laugh and throw up, the film is a dark comedy- with emphasis on the DARK- and may not be suited to everyone's tastes, admittedly. It has moments where the gore can be quite, well, gory, and certainly it touches on mental illness in a way that may make some people uncomfortable. However, in my view, the film never makes fun of Jerry, our protagonist. In Reynolds' words, he is "a serial killer with a heart of gold", and he still remains a likable character that you root for, even to the end.

The film beholds beautiful visuals with great use of colours and very creative ways of showing how Jerry's mind works. I honestly loved it, and recommend it!

I won't divulge any spoilers in this brief account of "The Voices" because that would ruin any viewer's surprise. Needless to say, "The Voices" is an interesting outing for Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick, and one I absolutely didn't expect. I like watching movies when you're unaware of what is to be, and "The Voices" is one of those. Thus, if you like Ryan Reynolds, and Anna Kendrick, and house pets, and maybe even karaoke, you'll find lots to love in "The Voices." Recommended.

Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) is a seemingly happy guy in the town of Milton. Dr. Warren (Jacki Weaver) is his court-appointed psychiatrist. He likes Fiona (Gemma Arterton) from work but she doesn't like him back. The problem is that he sees things and hear voices from animals. He's delusionally obsessed with Fiona but Lisa (Anna Kendrick) is the one who actually likes him.

Reynolds gets to play an odd guy. He has an opportunity to play a truly scary guy but he doesn't do that until the end. This is a lot of quirky black comedy but not actually funny. It could be a horror but it's not anything scary. If Reynolds plays him more quietly, he could be scarier and intensely creepy. The animals and the talking heads could also be weirder. It has some interesting quirkiness but it could be better. It has to choose to be either truly quirky like the closing credits or be an odd quirky scary horror.

For some reason Ryan Reynolds hasn't really taken off as a movie star, but I can't really see why. He has the good looks and he has a likable personality. Maybe it has to do with GREEN LANTERN? (not the best movie, but I still enjoyed it). Well, this time teamed up with director Marjane Satrapi (PERSEPOLIS) in her English-language debut, Ryan Reynolds delivers what is probably the best performance of his career. He plays Jerry, a rather unassuming (but subtly creepy) guy who works at a faucet and fixture warehouse in a small town. Everything seems alright on the surface, but deep inside Jerry has some problems. Aside from a troubled childhood, he also hears voices inside his head, and these voices tell him to do things...bad things. I'll just say that for those looking for a lighthearted comedy, this isn't it. THE VOICES goes to some pretty dark places, but manages to balance the tone fairly evenly between comedy and shock, of which there is plenty. But most importantly, Jerry is a guy you actually care about. Despite his...issues, he really wants to do the right thing and live a normal life. Too bad that his cat Mr. Whiskers is more influential than his goodhearted dog Bosco. Across the board, all of the performances were excellent. You have Anna Kendrick and Gemma Arterton who play a couple of Jerry's coworkers, and Jacki Weaver plays his court-appointed psychiatrist. They could have been developed a little more, but this is mostly Ryan Reynold's show and boy does he deliver! From a technical standpoint, I thought the cinematography and production design lent a sort of fairy-tale quality to the film, and the color scheme which had a lot of pinks and oranges provided a nice contrast with dark subject material. As far as the gory stuff is concerned, they don't show a whole lot, instead opting for some pretty gruesome sound design. Often the power of suggestion is more effective than actually showing violent acts. And, in this case, it actually works in the film's favor because Jerry can remain just as likable when you don't actually see him kill people most of the time. If there's any weaknesses to the film, it's that it doesn't really try anything new or revolutionary in its approach to the whole "loveable serial killer" thing. Almost nothing that happens in this movie is unpredictable in some way, with one big exception which I'll leave for you to experience on your own should you choose to watch this. Overall I enjoyed this a lot, mainly because I'm drawn to oddball films like this, but also because I haven't seen Ryan Reynolds this good in, well, forever. For lovers of dark comedies, I'd say THE VOICES is a must-see.

The voices is another lower independent film starring Reynolds. In the film, he truly captures the idea that Jerry is a man forced down a road of violence by things that he cannot control. He is a unique serial killer in that he so wants normalcy, companionship and happiness. The joy in Reynolds' eyes when he is shown human kindness by other co- workers (Gemma Arterton & Anna Kendrick) is as key to this performance as the insanity that other actors would have focused on and turned into scenery chewing. Reynolds uses his natural charm to great effect here. The voices has some similarities with American Psycho with Christian Bale, as both characters have some similar traits. Or an older film which has been somewhat forgotten is the Cable Guy starring Jim Carrey. Overall, the Voices is not a film for everyone and can be easily seen as unstable for those expecting different results. It is entertaining throughout and offers some twists.

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As a rewatch 08/09/17' The Voices is a highly entertaining dark comedy. The film isn't meant to be taken as serious as some people are criticizing it, as we realize what is being shown is within the range of the character, which is why the film is titled "The Voices". By the end, everything makes more sense as there are some clues. As a further rewatch 11.26.20' enjoyed this film more so as one payed closer attention to detail and found more subtle clues and hints. Would enjoy Ryan Reynolds to do more dark comedy type films like this in the future. Still a hidden gem. Rating changed from 7 to 9.