Open Windows

I watched writer/director Nacho Vigalondo's Timecrimes a few years ago and was very impressed by the film generally, but especially by the unabashed ambition and imagination on display in what was a first feature-length effort. Open Windows demonstrates that Vigalondo's ambition and imagination is undiminished, but he could do with a little more restraint.

The set-up has echoes of Rear Window and Phone Booth, as Elijah Wood's super-fan Nick (a supposed competition-winner in town for a meeting with his favourite actress) finds himself let down. The curiously London-accented "campaign manager" for said actress (equally curiously named Chord) gets in touch, but evidently has motives of his own as he begins to manipulate Nick. The situation gets increasingly disturbing as the suspiciously tech-savvy Chord continuously ups the ante. To summarise the plot from here would take as long as the film given the density of events and twists, but overall the story gets progressively more bonkers and convoluted before careering off the road in admittedly entertaining fashion.

Vigalondo might be too imaginative for his own good at times, and I'd class Open Windows as a noble failure, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

I read the reviews, took a chance, lots of action for sure just not a very realistic story line. Nothing wrong with acting, it is quiet good. It just was a bit nutty for me. And unrealistic..but it is a movie. 5/10 at best.

OPEN WINDOWS is a high-concept thriller that works better as an exercise in form and style than as a movie. Directed by Nacho Vigalondo, and starring Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey, the story is about a guy named Nick Chambers (Wood) who wins a date with actress Jill Goddard (Grey) through an online contest. After finding out the date has been canceled, a mysterious stranger named Chord (who claims to be affiliated with Jill) allows Nick to watch her secretly from his laptop, and things start to get crazy from there.

When I first started watching this, I was reminded of a couple of films that Elijah Wood did before this one: MANIAC and GRAND PIANO. I thought of MANIAC because every shot in this movie is from the first person point of view, and of GRAND PIANO because his character is constantly being given instructions by a mostly unseen third party. What I thought this film did effectively was integrate technology in an interesting way, and the way the story was presented was at least creative. It takes a while to get used to, but once you accept the concept then it's easier to get into the film. It's actually not too bad of a film either, for the first two-thirds of it. You have this rather timid individual who is given the opportunity to spy on someone he admires through the miracle of modern technology, and when things start to go wrong the film is able to maintain a good level of tension. Nothing in this film is predictable, and that is probably the highest praise I can give it. Still, despite the modern trappings it is rather silly and convoluted. I won't give away any twists, but it takes a turn about two-thirds of the way through that kind of ruined the experience for me.

As far as the acting is concerned, nobody really gave a bad performance, but nobody was spectacular either, including Elijah Wood who seemed to be doing another variation on the type of character he's played in his last couple of films. Sasha Grey wasn't too bad, but I wasn't expecting too much from somebody who came out of porn. Overall, I thought that the story, as implausible as it was, started out pretty good but then derails in the final act. There were some good observations on obsession with celebrities and the terrifying possibilities of modern technology, but it is mostly lost in a standard thriller. It's being billed as a 21st century REAR WINDOW, but most people would probably be better off watching that instead.

I hate writing bad reviews. I really do. Bad reviews aren't helpful and only serve to make well-meaning artists feel bad about their work. They worked hard on their piece. Submitted for your approval. "Open Windows" Overly complicated. Overacted. Overly stupid and in some choice "nuggets" of scenes, I found myself cringing from embarassement- you know the feeling, like when your chin gets pulled down to your neck and your face turns red? And yet I *still* gave it 7 stars. Why? It was weird fun and I stuck with it to see what happened next. There certainly are worse films for sure, but not too many "Golden Turkeys" like this one.

God bless Nacho Vigalondo ('Timecrimes' / 'Extraterrestrial'); he is a madman in person and in practice. 'Open Windows' is another attempt at an unconventional, high-concept thriller exploring the medium of film at its heart - action through time - and in ways that no one else has even conceived of. Elijah Wood's character is set up in a hotel in Austin having won a sweepstakes to meet his favorite actress, played by Sasha Grey - who, based on some of her IMDb titles ('Anal Artist' / 'Pop Goes the Weasel' / 'House of Ass 3'), isn't likely a Disney alum. When Wood is notified by her representative, 'Chord', that she has canceled their meeting and that being rude to her fans is nothing new, as a supposed retaliation, he's presented with the opportunity for remote access to the actress' laptop, phone, and webcam.

The film doesn't take much time dealing with the ethics of spying on someone but, rather, jumps right into a fast-passed thrill ride that has Wood's character jumping for A to B to C as Chord's true intentions unfold. The story is told in real-time, almost entirely on the screen of a laptop, with practical cameras following multiple events, and various plot points reveled through pop-up windows on the screen. The film was cleverly introduced as a modern-day 'Rear Window' and the gimmick does work; it took some time to get used to but, the tension ramps up quickly and, though the format is pivotal to the story, you almost forget that you're watching anything but a standard narrative. Unfortunately, it's the technology within the narrative that stretches disbelief a bit too far as the twists and turns become more and more bizarre. I'm always curious to see what Vigalondo has up his sleeve and his ambitions did not disappoint but the limitations he imposes on himself as a filmmaker seem to have pushed the state of modern technology into the realm of 'fantasy' which distracts from what is, otherwise, an inventive hostage/who-dun-it scenario.