Trance (2013)
Starring James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, and Rosario Dawson
Directed by Danny Boyle
I've always been a fan of Danny Boyle and even if I find some of his films a bit overrated (I'm looking at you, Slumdog Millionaire), I still find them visually intriguing. Trance is certainly eye-catching in the same vein as Boyle's other films -- and that's a good thing as the script seems surprisingly hollow considering the multitude of double crossings going on in this art heist-gone-bad flick.
Opening with an impressive sequence in which our main protagonist Simon (James McAvoy), an employee at a fancy British art auction house, tells the audience in voiceover how to prevent the theft of exquisite paintings only to have an exquisite painting stolen mere minutes later, I was intrigued with Trance right from the start. In the midst of the theft, Simon is knocked unconscious by one of the thieves and wakes up in a hospital, unable to remember what occurred. As it turns out, Simon himself was involved in the theft and integral in stealing the coveted art piece. The only problem is that Simon was attempting to double cross his fellow criminals and kept the painting for himself...except that with his loss of memory, he has no clue where the painting actually is now. When his "boss" Franck (Vincent Cassel) discovers that Simon was trying to manipulate him, he's none too happy, but is desperate to get the highly coveted and incredibly expensive painting back in his possession. In order to do this, he sends Simon to a hypnotist (Rosario Dawson) whom he hopes will be able to get Simon's latent memories to rise to the surface.
There's nothing in that summary that I don't like. Sure, it may not be the most original concept, but it sounds solid. Unfortunately, things sputter a bit after the plot is laid out in the opening thirty minutes. Hypnotic dream sequences come to the forefront and while they are nicely shot, they grow a bit monotonous and tiresome. There's only so many times the screenwriter can "get me" before I grow wary of the circuitous "what is reality" conceit.
The acting is fine, but the best aspect of the film -- and what saves it from being a rather complete bore -- is Boyle's direction. Unlike Baz Luhrmann whose films are essentially interchangeable in the way that he lenses and edits things, Boyle's films -- which some would say carry that same manic tone as Luhrmann's -- are aesthetically similar to each other in the way he shoots, frames, and cuts images, yet they each feel unique. I'd never confuse a scene from Trance with a scene from Slumdog Millionaire or 127 Hours as an example, whereas I could easily mistake a scene from The Great Gatsby for one from Moulin Rouge. For that, I give Boyle credit. He's a director whom I look forward to seeing what he brings to the screen. It's just a bit unfortunate that the screenplay here didn't carry its own weight.
Opening with an impressive sequence in which our main protagonist Simon (James McAvoy), an employee at a fancy British art auction house, tells the audience in voiceover how to prevent the theft of exquisite paintings only to have an exquisite painting stolen mere minutes later, I was intrigued with Trance right from the start. In the midst of the theft, Simon is knocked unconscious by one of the thieves and wakes up in a hospital, unable to remember what occurred. As it turns out, Simon himself was involved in the theft and integral in stealing the coveted art piece. The only problem is that Simon was attempting to double cross his fellow criminals and kept the painting for himself...except that with his loss of memory, he has no clue where the painting actually is now. When his "boss" Franck (Vincent Cassel) discovers that Simon was trying to manipulate him, he's none too happy, but is desperate to get the highly coveted and incredibly expensive painting back in his possession. In order to do this, he sends Simon to a hypnotist (Rosario Dawson) whom he hopes will be able to get Simon's latent memories to rise to the surface.
There's nothing in that summary that I don't like. Sure, it may not be the most original concept, but it sounds solid. Unfortunately, things sputter a bit after the plot is laid out in the opening thirty minutes. Hypnotic dream sequences come to the forefront and while they are nicely shot, they grow a bit monotonous and tiresome. There's only so many times the screenwriter can "get me" before I grow wary of the circuitous "what is reality" conceit.
The acting is fine, but the best aspect of the film -- and what saves it from being a rather complete bore -- is Boyle's direction. Unlike Baz Luhrmann whose films are essentially interchangeable in the way that he lenses and edits things, Boyle's films -- which some would say carry that same manic tone as Luhrmann's -- are aesthetically similar to each other in the way he shoots, frames, and cuts images, yet they each feel unique. I'd never confuse a scene from Trance with a scene from Slumdog Millionaire or 127 Hours as an example, whereas I could easily mistake a scene from The Great Gatsby for one from Moulin Rouge. For that, I give Boyle credit. He's a director whom I look forward to seeing what he brings to the screen. It's just a bit unfortunate that the screenplay here didn't carry its own weight.
The RyMickey Rating: C
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