

Quick take: Columbus Circle


No, I was much more invested in seeing Ribisi, a noted character actor who seems to thrive on playing wacky, demented or mentally ill roles, as a regular NYPD detective without any egregious ticks than the rote mystery shenanigans on display. Is “playing normal” actually his own particular acting challenge? Did he lose a bet? Owe someone a favor? Frankly, seeing him without crazy hair, an affected accent or not covered in grime really threw me off.

Oh yeah, the movie. Well, co-writer Kevin Pollak and director George Gallo really want to invoke Hitchcock in this tale of incredibly wealthy and agoraphobic Abigail (Selma Blair), who hasn’t left her apartment in more than a decade, and the new neighbors that moved in across the way after the sudden death of the elderly neighbor.

Those neighbors are the bickering Charles (Jason Lee) and Lillian (Amy Smart), and before long, Lillian’s getting abused outside Abigail’s door, forcing our heroine to step outside and get involved with the world for the first time in quite some while.

In order for these kinds of thrillers to be effective, there has to be an element of uncertainty, but from the start, it’s patently clear how things are going to transpire, which sucks any kind of tension out of the film.

The actors give it their all, with Blair and the underused Smart getting the most screen time, but they are simply treading water until the inevitable conclusion. There are some elements in place for a present-day homage to Hitchcock –  the claustrophobic setting, the unsettling score, the cast of suspicious characters … but not much beyond the surface.

The lesson remains, as usual, always be wary of movies with familiar names that you’ve never heard anything about. There’s a good reason why.

Elliott Smith