hsimpleton
The movie would have made more sense if the husband had been struck while attempting to get out of his car, instead of searching for his cellphone to continue his conversation with Sandra Bullock. Who sits in a car in the middle of the road talking on a cellphone immediately after almost getting hit by one vehicle? That was Just DUMB. And how was she pregnant if she was taking lithium?
lavatch
Sandra Bullock gives a standout performance as housewife Linda Hanson experiencing extreme paranormal behavior. But the plot of "Premonition" includes holes that are larger than the semi that figures so prominently in the story.The film title is misleading, as Linda is not merely having a premonition. Rather, she is moving in and out of time during the week in which her husband died in a tragic auto collision with a truck. As Linda moves backward and forward in time, she pieces together the story about her husband's affair with an office worker, then desperately tries to save his life before the wreck.The problem with this scenario is that on the one hand, Linda is successful in going back in time in changing the past in her forgiveness of her husband. But the screenplay is so convoluted that it is difficult to take away any message about the meaning of this strange experience. The ending seemed smug in attempting to tack on a theme about "faith" and "miracles." In the end, "Premonition" never achieved the potential of the film's premise. The final stretch of the narrative needed to synthesize all of the critical plot elements (the electrical storm, the dead crow, the child's accident, the meeting with the psychiatrist, the encounter with the "other woman"at the funeral). Instead, those aspects of the frantic week of Linda Hanson that were inconvenient for the uplifting ending, were left dangling or were simply ignored.
tuberoot
Don't get me wrong, Sandra Bullock is a top notch actress in movies like this one. She doesn't disappoint.The other actors are good too. Julian McMahon did alright . . . I have to say, every time I see him in anything I am reminded of two things he was in, and I didn't like him in either one: Charmed and playing Dr. Doom the first time Fox screwed that superhero team up. So I think he did okay in this movie, nothing special though.Premonition is sort of a Groundhog Day meets thriller movie. So not that fresh, but what really took it down was the utter incompetence of everyone involved. Everyone from the shrink to the mother in law. Pure incompetence. That made me totally frustrated in the movie, I was uncomfortable watching it.By the time the movie ended, and some people didn't like the way it ended, but I was not really caring by that time. I just wanted it to end. I rated this movie a 5.
atlasmb
In "Premonition", a woman finds herself in a real-life nightmare--her life becomes a non-linear experience, a puzzle that she must sort out. And she must do it by herself, because if you start talking about premonitions, you sound like a crazy person.As viewers, we get to work on the same temporal puzzle that Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) is trying to unravel. At first, it seems that the time line will be difficult to follow, but the script does a good job of helping the viewer keep things straight.The film has its twists and turns, eventually morphing into an ethical puzzle, which deserved more attention. But that is a minor issue.Early in the story, Linda is told that her husband died in an accident. Bullock's portrayal of grief is one of the best I have seen. And it takes the viewer into her world immediately.There is a lot of moralizing built into the story, but it does not detract much. However, the film contains a lot of religious symbolism--to the point that I found it distracting. By the time we get to the end of the film, the story has the feeling of a roller-coaster--in a good way. Some reviewers hate the ending. There is no satisfying everyone on this issue. I can't say it ended strongly, but it was not a cop-out. The acting is good, including that of the children. The story is engaging. I have to deduct a little for the weak ending and the religious undertones that unnecessarily detract from the stronger story lines.
AD
