Mark Nowiasz First off all, let me tell you (as lots of reviewer did before) that there's superb acting in this movie - Cillian Murphy does an awesome job, and so do his co-actors. Unfortunately all this good work comes to nothing - I just don't buy the plot. It's the same problem I'm having with Face/off - it's next to impossible to believe that no one recognizes that Emma is in fact John (or vice versa), or at least that Emma isn't a biological woman? Even in a rural town someone should get suspicious. It's just a much too big whopper to swallow.Then there's a second problem: The plot sounds like a comedy: Getting a train car by accident into your back yards, being hit by the same car as being Emma, the mayor wanting to have a rally at the said car, John/Emma having to switch personalities and doing some fast thinking to keep the secret - this is a recipe for a nice, light hearted comedy. Unfortunately it's not - it's dead serious, no traces of irony/humour at all, not even played as a dramedy/tragicomedy.So to me this movie fails - and fails big, because of the artistry, the effort of the actors.

Rogue-32 I dvr'd this when I saw that Ellen Page was in it, not even realizing Cillian Murphy was actually the star, or rather the STARS, since he plays two characters, his male side and his female side. He portrays both absolutely flawlessly.From the very beginning when the character is introduced as Emma, I knew from the synopsis that 'she' was physically 'John', but I bought it completely, thanks to Murphy's subtle, masterful and thoroughly engrossing performance. When he changes back into John, to ride his bicycle to the Peacock city bank where he works, I bought that completely as well.The story evolves slowly, deliberately, with details (about John's tormented upbringing at the hands of a clearly deranged mother)cleverly brought to light without ever saying too much; this is an example of how less can most definitely be more: the viewer finds himself/herself involved emotionally and gradually feeling true heartbreak for this soul, and it's all done with not even a shred of heavy-handedness or contrivance.A lot of people have carped about how the townspeople never catch on that John and Emma are the same person, but I didn't have a problem with this, as I said earlier, because to me, they were NOT the same person.Again, as I already mentioned, Murphy's characterizations of both are stunningly, seemingly effortlessly portrayed. I was reminded a bit of Jeremy Irons' dual/dueling characters in Dead Ringers, where of course the difference was that the Mantle twins, Beverly and Elliot, were indeed two separate people, lost in a sick, destructive symbiotic relationship. Thanks to great subtlety by Irons, you could tell when he was Beverly and when he was Elliot, both when they were on the screen at the same time and separately.In Peacock, John and Emma are not actually seen separately in physical form, but there are scenes where the two of them are fighting internally for identity control. This is brilliantly portrayed by Murphy, who, as a Gemini, fully comprehends the male/female duality in each of us.A lot of people have also carped about the seemingly 'confusing' ending, which 'ruined' the movie for them. I felt the opposite. The ending was perfect. Emma is there, at the window, once again, but so is John. This is displayed purely by Murphy's body language. The ending gave me the chills.

e5312 As a start I have to add that in my opinion this movie was not a thriller. Yet it is really worth to talk about, so here it comes.We're facing a quite interesting life here. John, your typical quiet bank clerk is a man with a serious case of dissociative identity disorder, caused by his irregular relationship with his mother in the past, a typical case of Freudian archetypes (usually I disagree with them when talking about the case of the mistakes mothers make when raising their children, but in this very movie I couldn't refer to anything else). In short, ever since the day his mother died, he cross-dresses and pretends to be a nice and friendly woman -who most people think is his wife-, Emma. Fighting the demons of his past, he's starting to loose control. The whole situation is driving him insane, making him unable to stop his alter ego, who seems to be taking over control and doing things he would never do. The ending most likely will not be what you were expecting for. It is quite sad on its own way.The even better reason to treat this movie as something special is the amount of amazing acting in it. By checking the three main characters, you could already tell that you won't see anything disappointing, at least not at the acting part. And let me make this clear, my high expectations were fulfilled. I think I haven't seen such excellent acting in a really long time, so if the subject doesn't really interest you, you can still watch it for a memorable cinematic experience.Oh and Susan Sarandon, she will never get too old to look beautiful. Her character was so warm and lovely, it fit her really well. Ellen Page (as the main cause I watched this movie for) also did great, the character of Maggie was impossible to not love. The scene when she told Emma how she got pregnant and started crying simply made me wish to be there and hug her. And of course -as most critiques mentioned-, CM really deserves an Oscar for his acting in this film. Playing such a complicated character as John Skillpa seemed to not cause him any problems, so as always all we can say is well done! If you wanted to see this movie for chills, I do not recommend you to watch it, but if you're open to see an interesting life story with lovable and realistic characters who could easily be people living next door or who you meet at the nearby store, I think you will really find this movie entertaining and will make you stop and wonder about how normal you and your life are.

ramirezapple The direction on this film is decent, however the script and storytelling leaves a lot to be desired. I can see why this got no theatrical release--- As moviegoers why are we supposed to care about a guy dressed as a woman. It seems to me like Kilian Murphy's thought he would be getting an Oscar nod or something. the roles have to be good for that to happen. this film is "posing" to be a critical favorite, when in actuality, it is not. its just another bad movie aimed at dumb audiences. simple as that- its trying to be a high class version of that - it sucks - don't waste my time Hollywood. maybe one day all the people in Hollywood will wake up and start making a decent film. not films posing to be good ones.