This movie tries to be a few different things, and succeeds at most of them. The European Cinema influence is obvious.
The first third of the movie is essentially softcore pornography, which is the classic European film version of "a love story."
The middle third is laugh out loud funny. Great dialogue, fantastic character beats, good recurring gags. Every supporting character shines. And while we're talking about the performers, the lead deserves her award for everything she does here.
And…
I like the first half with all of the theoretical posturing and navigating and maneuvering better... The more concrete the film tries to get, the less deep and interesting it is. The living room is far creepier than the basement.
All 3 leads were fantastic, with performances that ring true. High Grant's excellent balancing act is betrayed by 2nd half of the film, when his character's nudging of belief no longer works on 2 levels.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Slow paced but overall entertaining. However, great performances by the leads don't elevate this movie beyond being a third rate Silence of the Lambs. There's no real suspense, terror, or mystery—in fact, most of the discoveries that propel the FBI investigation just come from the lead being vaguely psychic.
And then there's Nicholas Cage. His maximalism is almost always fun to watch, but here you spend most of his screen time thinking, "Man, Nicholas Cage sure has fun playing creepy…
One of only 3 films I've ever been fully wrong about based on the preview. A masterpiece of its moment and a reflection on masculinity and identity for all time.
