Bob Rutzel
A college student Joyce Bonner (Odeya Rush) goes missing and police detective Malloy (Pierce Brosnan) keys in on Philosophy professor Evan Birch (Guy Pearce) who is known to have affairs with students. This really needed more suspects, but we have only one and I couldn't make up my mind if he was guilty or not. He acted so innocent and uncaring that I thought it couldn't be him. Yet, maybe that is what they wanted me to think. Yet there was no one else. His wife Ellen (Minnie Driver) was coming to believe their 5-yrs ago in another town was closing in on her and she doesn't want to move again. Detective Malloy tells Professor Evan that they both have something in common: they both seek the truth. I liked Pierce Brosnan as the detective and kind of hope he will do more of this kind of character in other movies. Hey, we need a good guy in movies once in a while. I just couldn't read Guy Pearce as the professor as everything told me he was innocent............yet.........there was no one else.Notables: Alexandra Shipp as Ana, a student who had some kind of history with the professor; Clark Gregg as Paul, Evan's lawyer. The title indicates a spinning man, but Evan wasn't shown spinning any which way. Yes, he may have felt the spinning inside. The last scene shows the mouse the family caught spinning on a wheel. Kind of contrived I thought. Will you be surprised when you see the ending? I was. (5/10)Violence: No.
Sex: No.
Nudity: No.
Humor: No.
Language: Yes, near the end.
Rating: C
billy_dan_courtney
I enjoyed this myself. It is a cat and mouse style slow thriller. If you like something action packed or in your face it may tire you a bit at times, but it is a good movie that is well acted, written and directed. Not perfect, it close enough.
utah_cos
The film's narrative evolved in complexity to the point that different paralel narratives, the blending of past and present, identities and versions of the same stories made everything confusing. Some people got that it was very deep because it questioned the reliability and indeed the concept of memory, etc., etc. However a more clear narrative and another, confusing finale would have been desirable
TerrificTom
SPOILER: I enjoyed the story although I forgot I'm not much for suspense. But I was for the length of the movie. I found myself rooting for him, wanting him to be not guilty. An innocent man railroaded by police and therefore presumed guilty by his family and his friends. Everything, not just the evidence but also his personal demons, pointed to his guilt. The young girls we was enamored of were not just pretty, but also looked sweet and still innocent. It added to the tragedy of the tale. The final scene with his latest student didn't make much sense at all though. The acting made it worth watching. Pierce and Pearce were very good. But also Colson from Marvel Agents of Shield was very good! I wish he'd had more to do. I liked him and believed in him, playing a very smart but underachieving attorney who's finally got a REAL case to defend! I'd like to see him in more films, and different genres than sci-fi. I hear he was really good on some comedy show I've never seen.It won't change your life, but I enjoyed it.
AD
