Rating: Summary: Transcends its type. Review: Don't blow this film because it looks as if it is a period drama or something along the realms of "Remains of the Day" or "Family Values". This is a PG-13 version of something like "Se7en" or "10 Rillington Place".It is a very good serial killer flick that took me by surprise. Normally I would scan over a movie like this one when playing it on the television but this one really did grip me. Fans of films like "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" should not miss this one. It really is not that bad at all and even for its PG-13 rating contains some very disturbing bits. In short, do not miss this serial killer flick because it looks like one of those silly dramas that old women like to watch (Opps that sounds sexist, but you know what I mean).
Rating: Summary: How do we deal with loss? Review: Egoyan's works deal with how we, as humans, deal with the loss of something sacred. In "Exotica", how does on deal with the death of a child, innocence, or a lover? In "Hereafter", we see the same theme explored in another interesting manner. In "Journey", we see it again. In order to appreciate the subtleties for Egoyan's works, you have to appreciate their thematic elements, not to mention his methods of storytelling, as well as his wonderful cinematic eye. "Journey" is a character study in madness, as well as loss. Loss of home, loss of love, loss of innocence. How does one deal with these things? Some must grow up, other must murder. Wonderful acting all around. I highly recommend this film to Egoyan fans and true lovers of extraordinary film. Put your thinking cap on.
Rating: Summary: "We all have to do terrible things, Felicia." Review: Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) is a gently spoken young Irish girl who travels to England to find her lover, Johnny (Peter McDonald). She's pregnant, desperate and under the illusion that everything will be all right if she can just find him. Unfortunately, the elusive Johnny hasn't been honest with Felicia, and this hampers her search. While "Felicia's Journey" to England to seek her lost lover is literal, she also has a figurative journey into the realm of experience and evil when she crosses paths with a serial killer.
Mr. Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) is the middle-aged, cuddly catering manager of a large factory. His female employees adore him, and they hang on every word as he passes judgment on a jam pudding. His calm, controlled and meticulous attention to detail combined with his obvious love for food make him a fussy, but strangely admirable character. Hilditch's sprawling country home is a shrine to his dead mother, a famous television chef. His cellar is loaded with dozens of boxes of brand-new kitchen appliances, and he spends his lonely evenings cooking gourmet feasts. He eats in solitary fashion as he watches old tapes of his mother's television programme through opera glasses.
Flashbacks of Hilditch's hideous childhood alternate with flashbacks of Felicia's memories of her love affair. While Felicia questions her past and wonders if Johnny failed her, Hilditch's memories are unwelcome, and they float to the surface of the present at the most inopportune times. Hilditch is also troubled with memories of young girls he's known in his past, and then he bumps into Felicia ...
"Felicia's Journey" is a beautiful, lyrical film. As a long-time fan of the William Trevor novel, I was delighted with Atom Egoyan's film version. Trevor, a seasoned writer, explores evil in the most unique ways, and with Egoyan's direction, Trevor's novel receives the treatment it deserves. Egoyan's additions to the film blend in perfectly with the novel--Egoyan's emphasis on the use of video serves only to enhance the story. Egoyan deftly blends three stories here--Felicia and Johnny, Hilditch and his mother, and Hilditch's relationship with Felicia. Bob Hoskins delivers an incredible performance as a serial killer who appears unthreatening, but who methodically stalks his victims after luring them in to his life. Dreams and memories mesh beautifully in this film. Felicia sleeps and dreams of a future that will never be, and Hilditch's nightmarish memories take the form of replaying videotapes in his head. "Felicia's Journey" and "The Sweet Hereafter" are Egoyan's more accessible films, and they are both masterpieces of filmmaking--displacedhuman
Rating: Summary: Fine Egoyan! Review: Felicia's Journey is a film that I admire more than like. Base on the novel by William Trevor, Egoyan's adaptation is a dreary, very slow paced, and haunting tale of a young pregnant girl searching for her missing boyfriend, and unwittingly getting involved with a serial killer. The story is told with no blood or gore, but manages to be unsettling because of the solid performances by the entire cast. Bob Hoskins' Hilditch is in many ways like Norman Bates in PSYCHO, an innocent driven so crazy by an unstable mother (an eerie Arshinee Khanjian, Egoyan's wife) that he has grown up with a need to kill. This is the most fascinating aspect of the story and I would have liked it seen explored some more. Felicia's Journey is definitely not for all tastes. Its pacing is deliberately slow and might not work for some, but it is a good film, if not a great one, full of Egoyan's trademark style. It is rich in imagery and manages to tell its story effectively. It slowly creeps under the skin and lingers in the mind. Not Egoyan's masterpiece, but close.
Rating: Summary: Author! Ending Needed! Review: For the first four-fifths of this movie, it was one of the creepiest, scariest films I've ever seen. A souffle of understated horror, acted to perfection by Bob Hoskins and Elaine Cassidy. But then, plop, the souffle falls in. The screenwriter simply could not think of a way to end the film. He set it up for the first four-fifths, and then, cliches upon cliches. Doesn't any director read the entire script before starting the filming? Or do they just read up to 80% and then want to be surprised by whatever ending the actors come up with? Why do I give this film as many as three stars? Because it was so well done, for a while. Not even a drop of blood. No corpses. No maiming. It delivers the horror by the sheer cinematography and understatement. Bottom line: strictly for moviegoers who want to see good horror-film-making technique, but stay away if you don't like to be disappointed by the plot.
Rating: Summary: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! Review: I don't write reviews too often, but I want to save you some time. The fact that the Amazon review above even mentions Alfred Hitchcock in the same paragraph with this movie is asinine. It's the company trying to sell a very bad product. I thought about buying this movie for one of those sleepless nights to not only help me go to sleep, but to "put" me to sleep. Trust me.
Rating: Summary: A waste of good acting Review: I had read the excellent critical reviews of Felicia's Journey, and only the hope of some major payoff -- and Bob Hoskins' acting -- kept me watching this otherwise stultifying film. The most disappointing aspect of this film, other than the farcical and ultimately predictable ending, was the lack of explanation for Hoskins' character (Hilditch)'s motivation to kill. Surely there was more to it than being force fed liver as a child? Unfortunately, the film never develops this to the point of clarity, and we are left wondering why the seemingly goodhearted Hilditch has this sinister side. Felicia's character is similarly underdeveloped; in fact, she struck me as a stock character -- the poor, oppressed, pregnant Irish Catholic girl with nowhere to turn. Elaine Cassidy did well enough given the one-dimensional character she had to work with in this film. The last few scenes of the movie with the religious women border on farce, and the rapid character change that occurs is as unbelievable as it was predictable (as was what happened afterward -- I only incorrectly guessed the method used). Frankly, the ending made no sense whatsoever. If one does not mind sitting through a plodding two-hour film to watch good acting (beware films described as "slowly unfolding"), this is your film. If you want a film that explores a mother's role in the creation of a psychopath, and that will scare you to boot, rent Psycho. Don't waste two hours on Felicia's Journey.
Rating: Summary: Disgusting-leaves the viewer with a sick stomach Review: I hated this movie. Between this role and his disgusting role in "Nixon," Bob Hoskins has officially lost all of my respect. He did a great job as an obsessed psychopath, and the movie was well done, but it's the kind of movie that does not need to be made. Extremely inappropriate and disgusting. The movie was artsie, but very slow moving. Once the plot began to unravel, I was waiting for the movie to end. The only reason why I finished it was because I was watching it for a class. This movie is the most disturbing movie that I have ever seen. I would never recommend it to anybody. It is a sickening and disgusting waste of time. The PG-13 rating just reflects mature subject matter. I give it one star only because the rating page won't allow zero.
Rating: Summary: Makes my jaw drop Review: I have never seen a more sympathetic portrayal of a serial killer. As played by Bob Hoskins, Mr. Hildich is a fatherly, sweet, gentle, and lonely man who is also conflicted, disturbed, and reluctantly evil. He also suffers from a lingering mother complex which is apparently responsible for his dirty, horrible little secrets. With a history of rescuing poor "lost girls" who are impregnated, then abandoned by their boy friends, he cannot help but try to keep them near him forever. Hildich's latest rescuee is Felicia, a young Irish girl with a problem similar to "the others." Hoskins plays Hildich with a quiet intensity that is both creepy, scary, but never less than sympathetic. I often felt that he needed rescuing as much as Felicia. The scenes where Hildich, who is ironically a catering manager, watches old videos of his mother, a famous French television chef, preparing one of her famous recipes while he follows along are by turns funny and nauseating. Norman Bates would probably identify with Hildich. Thrown into the mix is a Bible carrying rescue worker and missionary who promises peace in the great hereafter to those who would only just believe. In the end her naive message save no one, not even the hapless Hilich. There is a haunting and beautiful melody played throughout the film called "The Faith In The Heart Of A Child" which gives the simple message that if only children were more loved and respected for themselves there would be no need to rescue them when they become lonely, screwed up and loveless adults.
Rating: Summary: Makes my jaw drop Review: I have never seen a more sympathetic portrayal of a serial killer. As played by Bob Hoskins, Mr. Hilditch is a fatherly, sweet, gentle, and lonely man who is also conflicted, disturbed, and reluctantly evil. He also suffers from a lingering mother complex which is apparently responsible for his dirty, horrible little secrets. With a history of rescuing poor "lost girls" who are impregnated, then abandoned by their boy friends, he cannot help but try to keep them near him forever. Hilditch's latest rescuee is Felicia, a young Irish girl with a problem similar to "the others."
Hoskins plays Hilditch with a quiet intensity that is both creepy, scary, but never less than sympathetic. I often felt that he needed rescuing as much as Felicia. The scenes where Hilditch, who is ironically a catering manager, watches old videos of his mother, a famous French television chef, preparing one of her famous recipes while he follows along are by turns funny and nauseating. Norman Bates would probably identify with Hildich. Thrown into the mix is a Bible carrying rescue worker and missionary who promises peace in the great hereafter to those who would only just believe. In the end her naive message save no one, not even the hapless Hilditch.
There is a haunting and beautiful melody played throughout the film called "The Faith In The Heart Of A Child" which gives the simple message that if only children were more loved and respected for themselves there would be no need to rescue them when they become lonely, screwed up and loveless adults.
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