generationofswine She really does, but then she seems to think a LOT of what I watch is weird. It's the age difference.Farscape...weird. Fallen...weird. The Game...weird. Jackie Brown...weird. Fargo...weird. Fear and Loathing...Very Weird.Well Fear & Loathing was Very Weird...delightfully weird.But like I said, it's a generational gap. I'm sorta Gen-X. Still wear Doc Martins and even still wear Flannels. It's a sensibility thing.People my age come across Eye of the Beholder and we see Ewan McGregor's name on it, piques our interest.We turn it over and read the back and...hmmm, that sounds interesting.So we rent it, we buy it, either way we take it home and, well, we are pl4easently surprised. This is a movie that we have never seen before.It's slightly confusing, it's a clear cut analogy, and one that doesn't cater well to the generations that want, well, giant blockbuster explosions, remakes of films without the satire that would have lost them in the originals, and TV shows that mirror the other TV shows they've already seen just the night before...around 9.And then there's the Eye of the Beholder crowd. "It seems interesting." we say when we pick up the box...and then, later, "oh, I have to read into this a little, OK." That last part is where a lot of people get turned off. "Oh, I have to read into it? There on subtext? What the heck is subtext? Is that like a subtitle? I don't like movies with subtitles I probably won't like movies with subtext either." And then they get confused and get bored.You have to do a little bit of thinking on this one to enjoy it, use that lump that's three-feet above your bum. Flex that muscle that really counts...and when you do the pay off is there.If you don't well, you might still enjoy it because she's right, it is sort of weird.But if you don't want to think, and if you don't enjoy weird, this movie may not be for you...pass it up and go see the remake of Robocop sans the satire that made it great, that might be more your speed.

SnoopyStyle Stephen 'The Eye' Wilson ((Ewan McGregor) is a loner investigator for the British Consulate in Washington. He is assigned to investigate an official's son and witnesses Joanna Eris (Ashley Judd) killing him. He suffers from hallucinations of his daughter whom he lost in a divorce. His hallucination convinces him to protect the wayward serial killer and start following her.The movie needs better style from director Stephan Elliott. It's not dark enough to be compelling or paranoid. It's definitely not tense enough to be thrilling. The movie sets up the premise but does few exciting things with it. It has a Hitchcock feel but lacks his expertise. Even the surreal element of his hallucinations need some help. They're not unreal or fanciful enough. This could be something worthwhile if it isn't so unimaginative.

atmiller If you have ever had a big, painful wound covered by a big, sticky bandaid and had to pull it off really slowly because if you pulled it fast you may re-open the wound, which makes you suffer excruciatingly through every millimeter of skin and hair, then stretch that sensation out for approximately 4 hours, you have ALMOST come to know the pain of "Eye of the Beholder". (You would know it exactly if someone promised you that everything you were going through would be awesome, and that there would be a great big prize at the end, only it ISN'T awesome, and there IS no prize!!! (Except maybe getting to leave the theater.))Worse than Manos: The Hand of Fate.Worse than Santa Claus Conquers the Men from Mars.Worse than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.I understood this movie perfectly well, and I want my hours back. I want the cells of my brain containing and surrounding the memory of the time I spent watching this giant snooze-fest to be bleached into oblivion. The ONLY film that can make a scantily clad Ashley Judd seem like a hellish nightmare of tedium to "behold".If you can imagine a movie based upon a single-cell organism as watched through the lens of a microscope, blundering around aimlessly eating other single-celled organisms for no apparent reason, and the person looking through the scope having pointless personal problems grafted ham-handedly on top of it, then go into space, find the nearest black hole, and just watch it as time expands and stretches your suffering into the infinite... THAT would be better than "Eye of the Beholder".My wife and I were two of the FIVE people who entered the theater to watch this film, and we were the only ONES there when it was finally, FINALLY over. The theater attendant greeted us as we left with an apology and complimentary tickets for a different film.What they SHOULD have done was ignored dreaded causality loops and given us a time machine so we could warn our past selves not to see this film at ALL COSTS!If you hate yourself, you'll love to torture yourself with this film. Enjoy.Even now, years later, having suffered through Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I stand by this review.

PeachHamBeach CAUTION: POSSIBLE SPOILERSLongtime Ewan fan here, and this is one of the few movies of his that I actually did not like when I first saw it. It is EXTREMELY fast paced, and sometimes a bit far-fetched. How does the Eye remove his surveillance equipment so quickly once his subject is suddenly moving on to another life, another name, another identity???!!!In spite of what seem to be flaws, EYE OF THE BEHOLDER is an entrancing, haunting film about two people who don't know each other, but who are connected in ways that can't be imagined or understood until at least halfway thru the film.The Eye, a British surveillance specialist is sent by his boss to investigate the boss's son, who has been withdrawing a lot of cash from the bank. Boss wants to know what sonny is up to. The Eye is a professional, excellent with equipment, superb at watching without being noticed. It's clear he's been a spy for a very long time. That's why the former "farfetched" idea of him being able to pull microphones, knock down cameras, and slither from site to site without being found out turns out to be acceptable. His real name is Stephen Wilson, and his wife and daughter are gone, apparently because his work was more important to him than his family. After they left, The Eye realized what he lost, and when we meet him, he's been a lonely, isolated, damaged man for quite a while.The Eye locks on to the boss's son and discovers that the Embassy Brat has been giving money to a beautiful young woman. She meets the son of the boss at a museum in Washington D.C. and as she is captured by the Eye's camera, The Eye feels like he's seen a ghost. The story, and the obsession begin here. The Eye begins abandoning duty in favor of a sense of loyalty. Indeed it seems definite that The Eye has lost his sense of reason. His obsession with the murderous yet lovely woman grows as he follows her all around the country. Ashley Judd's many wigs and personalities are beautiful as they are astonishing. Do give this clever, suspenseful thriller a try. I think if you focus and follow the film, you will get it. It's a story of complete obsession and how obsession can really drive a person to do things they normally would not do, and how it can change them forever, for good or for bad.