Shadows on the Wall | Wicker Park

Wicker Park

R E V I E W B Y R I C H C L I N E

dir Paul McGuigan
scr Brandon Boyce
with Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger, Matthew Lillard, Jessica Pare, Christopher Cousins, Gillian Ferrabee, Stephen Milton, Stefanie Buxton, Marcel Jeannin, Erika Rosenbaum
release US 3.Sep.04, UK 10.Sep.04
MGM
04/US 1h54

Memories of true love: Kruger and Hartnett

Support Shadows: Buy a Poster

This American remake of the 1996 French thriller L'Appartement is, sadly, just what you'd expect: A slick movie with a nice-looking cast and a script that strips away everything that made the original so elusive and involving. In other words: The more they attempt to explain the plot, the worse it gets.

After two years in New York, Matt (Hartnett) has returned home to Chicago with a new fiancee (Pare) and a new job, and he thinks he's ready to face the city where his heart was crushed by the love of his life, Lisa (Kruger), in Wicker Park. But a series of coincidences suddenly bring Lisa very much to mind, and as he tries to find her with the help of his old pal (Lillard), he both uncovers some surprises and has to deal with his true feelings. And meeting a mysterious woman (Byrne) doesn't help much.

Basically this is a film about four people who fall in love suddenly and inexplicably, then stalk the object of their passion until something happens! The basic premise is complex and insinuating, twisting around on itself in a series of perspective-shifting flashbacks until we begin to get the whole story. And this is where the problems begin, because as things get clearer the plot holes become far too apparent. (The original film's writer, Gilles Mimouni, avoided this pitfall by never explaining anything!)

And there's also the problem of casting. These trendy young actors are extremely watchable but not terribly adept at portraying complexity. They're likeable enough to keep us interested even when showing dangerously obsessive tendencies, but they need a much better script to make us care. Lillard fares the best, even though he's the same guy he always plays. And Byrne is at least intriguing as a woman who's never what she seems. Meanwhile, McGuigan brings his stylish visual skills to bear with multiple images blending reflectively on screen and a nicely energetic style. For the first hour all of this is enough--we are engaged by the characters and drawn into the mystery. But once the contrived workings of the plot are exposed it simply falls to pieces.

adult themes, suspense, language 10.Jun.04

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

bainsstatic, net: 4/5

"Not having seen L'Appartement, I must say that this is a fairly entertaining movie. The plot twists keep the viewer engaged throughout the movie. A good way for director Paul McGuigan to enter Hollywood's director foray." (1.Sep.04)

Annie, Raleigh, NC: 2/5 "I'm glad I didn't pay to see this one! Enough said." (1.Sep.04)

Nikki Massie, Baltimore: 2/5 "This movie initially intrigued me in commercials. I thought it'd be a complex psychodrama that would end kind of like Identity, where we find out the events were all nothing but the inner workings of a sick mind. That would have made for a much better movie than what I saw. First the sequencing was off. My theory is that this was done so that you had to keep guessing who was the 'real' stalker. Second, the film totes itself as a psychodrama but it comes off as a sad hybrid of psychodrama and love story. The most offensive element, however, is the ending. What punishment does the villain get in this movie? A stern look and a tense moment at an Italian restaurant. I mean, come on, they could have thrown in a decent bitch slap scene and I would have felt justly compensated. I say wait for the DVD because, hopefully, if there is any justice in the world for this movie, there will be alternate endings." (3.Sep.04)