Review #15: The Wicker Man (2006)


This review was originally written in October 2016.

Day 15: The Wicker Man

At its core, I think this movie is a really interesting, solid murder mystery with a welcome twist at the end. However, any legitimacy it may have had during production is easily drowned out by the sheer absurdity of Nicolas Cage's character. He acts like a complete lunatic for the entire movie, screaming at people and behaving like no sane person ever would, and I don't know if that's the actor's fault or the director's fault or if it was somehow written into the script. I mean, it's still an enjoyable film, but I just can't see any director watching the dailies and thinking to himself, "Yep, this movie is going to be taken seriously. Mhmm."

Also, the opening scene for this movie boggles my mind just as much as the rest of the film. It's supposed to be some kind of emotional baggage that the main character is carrying around, likely predicating his eagerness to solve the main mystery of the story- but why did it need to be so absurd? It's not enough for him to accidentally have (sort of) caused the death of a mother and child, but they make it seem like there's some kind of mystery surrounding that as well. (His partner tells him "We never found the body of the mother or the daughter"- so what? Are we supposed to believe that they were or weren't killed? What purpose does this scene serve being any more than what's at face value? I'm bewildered to say the least.)

Anyway, this movie is one of the best comedies I've seen this week.

Rating: 7/10 Suckerpunches in a Bear Suit

The Bees: No, NOT THE BEES

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