peterdavis
...sings Neil Finn in a catchy Crowded House song that plays at several points in the film. Could have been written especially for the film, and maybe it was, it's so apt.What a wonderful and surprising ride this movie was. Starts with a plot that's like standard Hollywood thriller fair, but then... wow.Rachel Blake is amazing to watch in a brave performance of an unusual character-journey, to say the least. It's also a tribute to the mercurial power of Sam Neil that I wasn't once distracted enough to expect a dinosaur to spring from the bushes or a mute Holly Hunter to start playing a piano, despite the familiar image of Sam Niel against lush island locations.Great photography of such great NZ locations. Great humour, dialogue and direction from Gaylene Preston.I'd like to see another Gaylene Preston film soon and I'm sorry to see nothing new is listed currently here for her. Buy the DVD - it's a crime it was so cheap!!!
JoeytheBrit
MAJOR SPOILERS This low budget flick starts off as a straightforward single female in peril thriller before changing tack midway through and heading down the single female goes a bit bonkers path. There's no warning, or apparent reason, for her sudden mental slide, but that's just one of many issues the film's writer and director fail to address. Why any bloke would want to marry a mad chick who whacked him over the head with a shovel and tied him up in a tool shed which she then takes pot shots at while talking to said bloke's dead/imaginary mate who she has recently murdered and thrown in a freezer is way beyond me. I know he lives alone on an island, but even so he can't be that desperate...Although the woman's descent into madness is unaccountably swift, the film plods along, neither knowing or seeming to care where it is going. The woman is never a sympathetic character, and neither her nor Sam Neill (who is considerably less bonkers, but still a little flaky all the same) are given any real back-story, so the viewer is given no reason to care what happens to them.This one's about as satisfying as a knife in the gut after a one-night stand...
mkw-5
A previous previewer said that this was in his/her opinion "like a small student movie", like that would be something bad(?). Anyway, there is nothing amateurish or "student" in this movie. Maybe the guy was talking about the simplicity and small-scaleness of the film. Yes, it is that. But simplicity is/can be very brave and rare today. Many times filmmakers try to hide their lack of ideas under a chaos of different ideas and technical complexity.This was not the greatest masterpiece of all time, but it was well worth watching. The script was very clever, and the directing and the "flow" of the movie was very well made. Sam Neill and the lead actress were very good castings for these roles. I think it's refreshing to see movies that don't try to be anything else than what they are. I rate this movie not compared to any other movies I've seen, but as an independent being and work.
sopka12
True is, if I haven't been many years the Sam Neill's fan I'd have never rented videotape with this movie. First I have read user comments at this pages and I thought this movie is something quite modern, unwatchable, not too much comprehensible. Finally, when i have watched it, I was pleasantly surprised. By my mean story about woman who sank up under influence insane handsome man is really great movie. I like this unique mix romance, a little humor, a little horror and psychology used in this movie. It is refreshing and remarkable thing inside the flood many and many constantly similar productions from the all world. If you prefer not traditional story, if you like emotional movies, if you like great camera, and if you don't persist at traditional happy ends, you would love this movie.
AD
