Rating: 
Summary: Tries to take the easy way out of its messy story.
Review: "What Do You See?" In "The Mothman Prophecies," one doesn't see much more than a shadowy figure surrounded by brilliant white and red light, an apparition that serves as the basis for the film's story. Operating under the notion that what we don't see can be equally effective as what we do see, director Mark Pellington helms the story with a sincere sense of menace and a sublime display of visual trickery, but the movie makes the mistake of losing focus from the mystery it claims to lay rest to. Furthermore, it doesn't trust its audience to embrace an ending where loose ends remains, and insists upon supplying us with a less-than-thrilling climax that attempts to mask one problem by providing a resolution to another. It's a classic case of a promising premise that seems to run out of ideas once it comes time for delivery point. Beginning in Washington D.C., we are introduced to the lives of Washington Post reporter John Klein (Richard Gere) and his wife, Mary (Debra Messing), who have just finished buying themselves a new home on Christmas Eve. During the drive home, Mary reacts in shock to something unseen and runs the car off the road; at the hospital, the doctors locate a fatal tumor in her brain, deeming that as the cause of the accident. But Mary knows otherwise, asking her husband, "You didn't see it?" Soon after, she dies, leaving behind a notebook with a collection of drawings of a moth-like creature with red eyes and an expressionless face. The film then skips ahead two years, and we find John sullen and emotionally empty. On his way to Richmond in the early morning hours, he soon finds himself in the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a mere hour and a half and a whopping four hundred miles after his initial departure from Washington. This, and a bizarre incident involving a local man accusing him of trespassing numerous times, gives him enough initiative to start questioning reality. Hooking up with local cop Connie Parker (Laura Linney), who speaks of strange occurrences throughout the town, John begins to look for clues as to what his wife saw before the accident, and how he strangely arrived in this town, two things he believes are connected to the events surrounding a mythical creature known to those who see him as "Mothman." Soon, he starts getting strange phone calls, reports of his dead wife seen at the police station, and the premonitions of events soon to pass. And this is where the movie starts to collapse on its own agenda. The phone calls, the re-materialized spouse, foretold disasters, all of which work as diversions from the fact that there is no resolution to the mystery surrounding the Mothman. The movie's unwillingness to emphasize that point, much less trust its audience to accept it, sends the third act into a tailspin of ludicrousness, relying on an unneeded climax in hopes of tying together all its loose ends, when it deserves to end on a note of uncertainty. Even the Mothman himself does little for the movie's plot, remaining little more than a botched juxtaposition of good and evil, an identity crisis the movie never clears up. Director Pellington does manage to grab our attention with some very effective camera movements, stylistic dabbles in hallucinatory imagery, and an environment where nothing is without a sense of unease. Many of his shots appear to be the Mothman's point-of-view, a tactic Pellington uses throughout much of the movie, along with intense collages of psychedelic colors and bright lighting. His cast is also first-rate, with credible performances from Gere and Linney, who carry much of the story through expressions of fear and paranoia. But for all of its stylistic approaches and well-meaning performances, "The Mothman Prophecies" lacks the courage to tell it like it is. In my research of the events in Point Pleasant prior to the film, I felt a great sense of unease that the movie is curiously lacking in its most essential moments. As a result of the film's need to keep things simple in the end, we learn nothing about the Mothman, nor does the mystery surrounding him ever reach a high note of interest. As a director, Pellington hasn't lost his touch; as a storyteller, he has a lot to learn.
Rating: 
Summary: But WHERE Was The Mothman?
Review: The single greatest drawback to THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES is the fact that the screenplay was only derived from the events that took place outside Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1966. No film could respectably do John Keel's book justice; arguably, no miniseries could. However, the book's conclusion, as with the film, cried out for a Hollywoodization, and the screenplay -- while offering only hints at the depth contained in the book of the same name -- succeeds admirably. Richard Gere -- Tibet's favorite non-actor -- plays John Kline (name sound familiar), who after the death of his wife finds himself unexplainably drawn to the town of Point Pleasant ... where, indeed, strange things are afoot. For, despite his never having been there before, a complete stranger claims to have spoken with Kline two nights consecutively at 2:30 am. This draws the attention of the local police sergeant (played with subtle grace by the magnificent and beautiful Laura Linney), and the two of them are quickly drawn into the mystery of the Mothman and other supernatural occurences in and around the town. The story lags in a few spots, but the director keeps the interest level up by sprinkling the film with a healthy dose of X Files sensibilities. Starkly photographed (eerily reminescent of David Fincher's camerawork with SEVEN), THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES offers up a few 'gotcha' scares but gives the inquisitive viewer plenty to think about before all is said and done in the Mayberry-meets-Titanic style conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: "X Files On Prosac"
Review: Richard Gere, who, last fall told an arena full of New York firefighers and policemen they should "channel all their horrendous energy into peace and love" decided to channel HIS energy into "Mothman Prophecies," a film that plays like a medicore episode of "X-Files" minus that TV show's hipness and wit. The screenplay (based on actual events in which a group of citizens of Point Pleasant, West Virignia reported seeing a huge moth like creature who became a harbinger of doom; predicting tragedies yet to come) has Gere as an investigative reporter for the Washington Post (THERE's a novel idea-- casting a movie star as an investigative reporter; maybe the filmmakers got hold of some old episodes of "Night Stalker), who, following the death of his wife, mysteriously finds himself in Point Pleasant, where the mysteries, such as they are, begin to unfold. Director Mark Pellington ("Arlington Road") tries to lift the material with a lot of flashbacks,quick cuts, and dissolves, but none of it quite works...and this film might boast the worst sound editing of all time; one has to strain at times to hear exactly what that muffled voice on the phone is telling out intrepid hero. Watching "Mothman Prophecies" one thought kept running through my head: where's Mulder and Scully when we really need them?!
Rating: 
Summary: A Must See!!
Review: Being a huge fan of Richard and Debra, I couldn't wait to see the movie (great acting, they kept you on the edge of your seat). What I did not expect was the feeling of being truly afraid of the dark as I left the theatre. I'm normally not a person who scares easily. But, I tell you, as I went from room to room of my home, I put on every light. I even slept with the light on in my bedroom, which I have never done. If you love the X-files (because they leave you wondering) you will absolutely LOVE this movie. I hope they make a sequel. I was so intrigued by the movie that I searched the internet and purchased several books on the subject. I'm hooked.
Rating:
Summary: PLEASE FLY AWAY MOTH
Review: This movie was okay but I would recommend waiting till it is on USA. It's one of those movies that need editing and commercial breaks to interrupt how boring it gets. Sure, it has its moments but overall the same thing happens over and over (that damn phone!) and after a hour you really are just bored. The directing was great and the actors was very good but it didn't grab me like it was suppose to. The only reason why I gave this movie three stars is because when I went home I was thinking about the "mothman". The crazy thing is you never really get this mothman is an alien- it seems more like a demon.
Rating:
Summary: Atmospheric
Review: Well done adaptation of the classic John Keel 1975 non-fiction book. Richard Gere is a Wahington Post reporter who is involved in a tragic car accident with eerie overtones. Two years later, he is driving to Richmond Va. to do an interview......and somehow ends up going the opposite way....to Point Pleasant,West Virginia, where all hell is breaking loose. A moody, tense film, which does'nt have to spend $100 million on special effects to get it's story across. Gere is quite good in the featured role. Well worth seeing..
Rating:
Summary: For once, a good mainstream movie...
Review: Or should I say, the second good mainstream movie I have seen lately. The Mothman Prophecies is a metaphysical thriller, a psychological rollercoaster that will keep you on the edge of your seat (and sanity for that matter). The film is done with a lot of grainy footage and very independent-film type styles and dialogue. Definitely a psychothriller, this film begs many questions about the nature of phenomenon. It also displays the psychological effects of aknowledging evil. I went and saw this movie with my parents (I am 20 years old) and they both liked it as well. So I am convinced that both the weekly movie-goer and the picky critic will like this movie equally. ... Doug
Rating:
Summary: excellant movie
Review: I saw this movie tonight in the theatres and right as the lights dimmed I thought "This is going to be a good movie". I dont know I guess my gut just told me that it was gunna be a good one. And heres a good tip, always trust your gut about a movie. And it was definately right about this movie. I really liked this movie. It was very unique and very creepy. Espesially because its all based on true events. Though I dont know if thats true or not. I really didnt know much about what this was about with the trailer but it didnt take long to figure out. Its basically about paranormal activity. Its actually very frightening and very unpredictable whcih I think can make or break a movie. I never knew what was going to come next and I really enjoy that kind of movies. And of course it had the pop out moments which every horror movie has to have. And I have to admit I jumped a couple times. I really liked this movie I give it 5 stars all around.
Rating:
Summary: "Heart stoppingly scary!"
Review: This film picked me up and threw me accross the theater! I just cannot begin to describe how good this film was. They need more stars to start with, 5 is just no enough. If you haven't seen this film yet, you need to! I mean it! -James Wimmer
Rating: 
Summary: Mothman Prophecies Missed the Point.
Review: After anxiously waiting several years, we pondered over the fact that we knew that the movie would just not live up to the book itself. (They never do right?) While the movie wasn't bad, it just missed so much as to what the original book itself had expressed and meant at least to us back then. The whole of the book was lost somewhere among their focus to introduce the mothmen to the general public. As I recall, right from the beginning the thing that was most stamped upon our minds was the episode of the humongous orange ball in the sky that explodes and from within it emerge thousands of pyrotechnic displays or just what were they?...I really can't say. Anyway, the whole point was how these sightings of mothmen, men in black, ufo's and other unknowns that take on forms of animals and other imaginationings 'inter-relate'. These other occurrences were deliberately left idle while the movie focuses on whether or not the people were going to accept what they saw and who the mothmen were. Maybe it's just my own interpretation, but I think the movie missed it's best opportunity of the decade by leaving the backbone of the book on the sidelines as usual.
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