‘Unspeakable’ (2002)
It could have used a better editor.
This is one of those films that I caught about 15 min. late on late-night cable. That I missed those 15 min. made all the difference in the world, making a clunky thriller into something much more compelling. The dorktastic titles reading ‘Tonight’, ’3 Days Earlier’, etc., etc. – played no part in my first impression, and the film played as a straight jailhouse drama that way, with LESS ludicrous pseudo-science and fewer superhuman feats perpetrated by the arch-villain.
I was so intrigued by this insomnia-tinged drama that I programmed my Tivo to catch the West Coast feed of the movie, and that was the good-bad mistake. This film would have been far more effective if they had eliminated the backstories at the beginning of the film and the wannabe ‘Another Heaven‘ (2000) aspects of the Jesse Mowatt character. The director and the editor overplayed their hands there.
The pluses for this film are that the leads – Dina Meyer, Lance Henrickson, Jeff Fahey and even the writer/actor Pavan Grover turn in acceptable performances. I was especially impressed by Meyer here, in her capacity to convey sympathy, compassion, authority, fear, etc. Dennis Hopper’s contribution however, is execrable: his lines are terrible, and he chooses to read them like a ‘tough love’ southern caricature.
The ‘metaphysically-enhanced serial killer’ is an overcrowded field. It has been done to death. If anyone is out there writing such stuff, it is best that they limit their palette – too many psychic powers and sci-fi gadgets can put a serious hurt on one’s story. Otherwise, this one is well-enough executed, and ironically a full cut above the junk that’s habitually ground-out by the SciFi Channel.
If it’s a late night or early morning, definitely worth biding one’s insomnia by…
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