(I must admit, after reading lots of reviews which I agreed with, but didn't realise I agreed with until I read them. Yes I know that I don't have an original thought here but pffffft to you all.)
The first half is excellent. Well written, well shot. The introduction is done well - no identities, just text leading you to believe that it's maybe just friendly, flirty. The initial meeting and scoping up of each character is clever, witty and well arranged. Tension builds as you know the inevitable's going to happen. She goes back to his place, and you just know he's going to try and seduce her and get her in the sack despite his innocent seeming facade.
Then it all goes a bit pearshaped. It's overly protracted, feels like perhaps the writer had got this great premise and had spent the past hour building up to something... but what?
You have no empathy with either character. They're shallow, there's no depth and you have no reason to care for either of them. Your sympathies are toyed with a bit, with her being the victim at first, him being the victim as she takes charge, then are we sure? Perhaps she's right and he is an evil pAedophile (deliberate capitalisation - see ANY American review). Then the end - are we really really sure who was right and who was wrong?
The acting is astonishing, the range of emotions displayed by
Patrick Wilson is astonishing, from the cute, confident and disarming, to the panic-stricken and desperate.
Ellen Page plays the role of a potential sociopath with vigour and vim [ooo redundancy]. She strikes a good balance, working with the script's humour and playing the serious scenes with a deadpan serious expression that's really quite scary.
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sad