Michael Ledo
Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) is a war photographer who gets blinded by a suicide bomber. The film starts three years later. We get an indication Sara is a strong person. She lives in an expensive Penthouse with a rich boyfriend (Andrew Walker). It isn't long before this becomes a home break-in film with Michael Keaton and Barry Sloane as the bad guys. It seems her boyfriend wasn't as nice as she thought.There must be a 100 home break-in films out there, some even involve a blind person. While not a bad film, this one doesn't bring anything new worthwhile to the table. A film you can wait to see.Parental Guide: No sex or nudity. No f-bombs that I recall.
Seth_Rogue_One
Almost came close to giving it a 6 but I don't really think it has much replay value so I'll just leave it at a five.Got interested in watching this after being pleasantly surprised by Michael Keaton's performance as a hit-man in MERRY GENTLEMAN so I was a little let down when he hadn't shown up in the first 25 minutes, but once he pops up (closer to the 30 minute mark), he becomes one of the key characters in the film.Has a bit of a rough start in terms of truly getting going and feels slightly amateurish but once it gets going it gets decent enough to keep watching, Michelle Monaghan initially felt a little miscast during the war-segments but once she goes blind she feels more natural.And even though Michael Keaton never feels truly threatening his screen-presence speaks for itself and makes it work somehow, it helps that Monaghan portrays her characters fear very well.Barry Sloane is the third lead in the film and he's just okay, not bad but he doesn't come across as terribly menacing either and doesn't have the same star-power charisma that helped Keaton to make his role a bit better than it was.As far as the story goes, we've kinda seen it all before although minor details feel fresh but they could have done so much more with it. Yeah overall not a great movie, but not a complete disaster either.Decent to watch on a slow Sunday afternoon perhaps.
Bob Rutzel
Sara (Monaghan) a former photo journalist in Afghanistan became blind from an incident there lives with Ryan (Andrew W. Walker) who isn't all he says he is according to Sara's friends. When she returns from buying liquor for the New Year's Eve celebration she discovers that she is not alone in the penthouse, and Ryan is nowhere to be found. Enter Chad (Barry Sloane) and Hollander (Keaton) who are looking for something Ryan stole from them. This movie is also known as Blindsided, and DAS PENTHOUSE. Sara claims Ryan only told her that he was an investor and never told her where anything of value was hidden in the penthouse, but Chad and Hollander don't believe her. Hence we have a movie to see if Sara is telling the truth. And so it goes as Sara gets beaten up and threatened and we cringe quite a bit as she gets tossed about quite brutally. The acting all around is very good. Nothing is overdone.Ah, I see you are looking for a twist. Sorry, there isn't one. In 2013, twists were not mandatory in movies as they are now. (really?) What we are left with is seeing if Sara, who is blind, can overcome two brutes who just might kill her if she gives them what they want. (hey, you did say she didn't know anything, didn't you?) What do you think? (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.
OJT
A blind reclusive war photographer is living in a penthouse in New York, when she is experiencing that someone has come into her apartment. Too late she senses that there's someone there.Well it doesn't take long before the action gets going, that's the good thing. Also the actors are doing an OK job. Nothing extraordinary, but OK job. Michael Keaton is always good in these kind of roles. Director Koseph Ruben is experienced, and has directed "Sleeping with the enemy", "The forgotten" and "The good son" amongst others. Quite good films. I don't like the war time flashbacks though. The cutter hasn't done a favorite job here.This is very mediocre filmmaking, and has troubles in engaging me, mainly due to the script. Strange, because David Loughery, the man behind, had done good scripts like "Lakeview Terrace" and "Passenger57".What's evident, is that blind people sense more than it's the case here. It's simply impossible to imagine a blind person being this motionless, and not even being able of smelling blood when it's out in ounces on the kitchen floor. And also another thing, when she takes out her white stick long after going out in the streets. And then a penthouse window which can be broken with throwing a chair!? Come on! This film would gave been much better if a blind had been involved in the script writing, do that stupid things could be avoided.If you want to watch a similar themed move, seek out "Blind" by Eskil Vogt instead, which is a completely profound experience compared to this. (Blind was a selected movie, and later prize winner at Sundance Film Festival in 2014.)The film is very predictable. So predictable it actually hurts. But if you don't mind, it's an OK watch. But if you don't wasn't to use time on mediocre films, you'll find much better!
AD
