Predrag
Michael Apted's direction sometimes gets in the way of true suspense, the middle of the movie seeming to slow down, and the killings take second place to the love affair. A red herring is thrown in and you might swallow it, but the identity of the killer once revealed may come as a surprise. A brilliant performance from Madeline Stowe elevates "Blink" in an otherwise slow moving, at times muddled, movie. It's true that the story may stretch your willingness to believe at times (though it seems that the "delayed vision" phenomena is accurate), what makes this a really good movie is the quality of the acting. As for the plot, its a thrilling and interesting crime as it begins to unfold, adding touches of fear with scenes of the killer... seen mostly through Stowe's blurry eyes. The best thing about this movie is Madeleine Stowe playing the blind woman, Emma Brody, who is given a transplant operation to help her see again. While her sight is returning she witnesses a murder committed by a brutal serial killer and becomes his next target. Stowe plays her character really well, making the blind scenes look genuine and making you care about her future. Aidan Quinn was OK in his role as Detective John Hallstrom, the police detective investigating the serial killer case who (surprise, surprise) falls for Emma Brody. Madeleine Stowe is sexy and does a good job in a demanding role, probably the most demanding of her modest career. This is a top notch thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end, and the soundtrack is not too bad. Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
Caps Fan
DVDs are wonderful things. Picking up this one recently gives me an opportunity to review yet another favorite from way back when.Madeleine Stowe features as Emma Brody, a gifted violinist living in Chicago, who was blinded as a young girl by her abusive mother. The story proper opens with her receiving corneal transplants after 20 or so years of blindness. This restores her sight, but her mind is so overwhelmed by the resulting flood of images that it operates a kind of delay in its processing so that she only perceives certain things some time after actually seeing them. One of the images so processed is that of a possible murderer
I have no idea whether this phenomenon is actually possible medically, but I didn't care much. The story is otherwise rather conventional, though its treatment is vivid. British-born Michael Apted knows his stuff and conveys a startling impression of Emma's situation and the Chicago she lives in.Stowe turns in a convincing, if sometimes rather shrill, performance, while Aidan Quinn is also good as the detective more or less in charge of the case, with whom Emma has a romance of sorts. The supporting players, including the excellent James Remar, are effective. I must admit though that the expression "red shirt" crossed my mind when a not very bright uniformed officer (named Crowe and played by Matt Roth) was assigned to keep an eye on Emma. My suspicions were more than justified.A satisfying thriller nevertheless adequate plot, excellent playing, good music, and lively direction. Who could want more?Rating: 7/10.
xredgarnetx
Madeline Stowe of "The Last of the Mohicans" fame stars in BLINK as a feisty musician who undergoes a new type of eye surgery to restore her vision, lost in childhood at the hands of an abusive mom. As her vision slowly returns, she runs afoul of a killer who is convinced she has gotten a good look at him, and is now after her. She tells the cops, who not surprisingly laugh at her. The irony is, she only sees the killer in a sort of surreal way, with the camera serving as Stowe's vision and showing us what amounts to little more than phantasms. She also suffers from mental time gaps with her returning vision. Stowe ends up falling for burly cop Aidan Quinn, who decides she's telling the truth and protects her. There's a nice trick at the very end involving the killer. Suspenseful and stylish for its time, with a thoughtful performance by Stowe.
hfk
I'm surprised by some of the negative reviews: this film was suspenseful and, at times, genuinely scary. But, then again, some of the IMDB reviews of "Sixth Sense" were so scathing that I nearly passed-by watching one of the best movies of the past few years. While this is certainly no "Sixth Sense", it is a well-made film. The entire cast does a a fine job, the dialog is well-written (although I don't care for the protagonist's strong profanity: it sounds especially disgusting coming from a female's mouth), the cinematography is excellent, and the plot twists and turns remain sufficiently believable. I've given it a 7 out of 10.
AD
