Premonition

I do not need my movies to make sense for me to enjoy them. I really don’t. If everything else is in working order, sense is just a bonus. See any David Lynch movie for proof of that. So, the fact that it is never known why Sandra Bullock is experiencing her week like this- Thursday, Tuesday, Saturday, Monday, Friday, Sunday and Wednesday- is not inherently a problem. What is a problem though, is that it isn’t a very good movie. It isn’t a terrible movie, either. It just isn’t any good. It is 100% average in every way.


Sandra Bullock is a mother who finds out her husband has died in a car accident, but when she wakes up the next day he is awake and she cannot figure out what is going on. As the movie goes on, she starts to piece together what is happening as she writes down what happens in each day and starts to think chronologically. Julian McMahon is the ill fated husband and all he gets to do is look concerned at Sandra and kiss his kids. Not really sure why he would take such a role, but I guess any chance to show something other than his Nip/tuck persona has to be jumped on. Bullock actually doesn’t do to badly here. She manages to slowly go crazy without relying on over the top acting choices to show her breakdown. Sadly, the director does not follow her lead and often relies on typical tactics to show fear or intensity, like quick edits, an unfocused lens and so on.


Paycheck, Déjà vu, Run Lola Run, Groundhog day, and various episodes of TV shows have all covered ground like this before and many of them do it better without the gaping plot holes. I can’t say much about them without giving away the ending of the movie, although if you see it you will pick up on them very quickly and that is where the problem lies. I don’t even care that with 30 minutes left they tried to turn it into some religious thriller to give the movie power or a punch, but what bothered me is how the writer and director never went through their own time line to make sure there were absolutely no mistakes. A film that weaves through time like that has to be extra careful during the editing and re-watching process to make sure nothing got through them and sadly quite a lot did get through them here. This movie also suffers from an incredibly abrupt and weak ending, ruining any chance of redeeming itself.