By: debbie lynn elias
Sandra Bullock and Julian McMahon are two actors whose work is typically above par in any genre. Bullock, who is branching away from the patented success of her romantic comedies, had critical and public acclaim for her seven minutes of screen time in the Oscar winning “Crash” (for which I still say she should have garnered an Oscar nomination) as well as her performance in the romantic supernaturally tinged drama last summer “The Lake House” which reteamed her with Keanu Reeves. McMahon, only one of the handsomest and talented men in film and tv, won the hearts of millions of women as the demon turned attorney Balthazar/Cole on “Charmed” only to top that performance with well-deserved accolades for his work in “Nip/Tuck.” Given their respective backgrounds, it seemed a natural to bring the two together in this supernatural suspense thriller PREMONITION.
Linda Hanson has it all – or so it seems. Herself a beauty, she has a devoted husband with looks that could kill, two lovely daughters, a dream house and wonderful friends. Content and complacent with her idyllic life, everything is right with Linda’s world. That is until a police officer shows up at her door. Jim Hanson is dead. The victim of a fiery auto accident, he was killed instantly. Grief-stricken, Linda now has the burden of breaking the devastating news she just received to her daughters 6-year old Megan and 10 year old Bridgett. Calling on her mother for strength and moral support, by day’s end, Linda has nothing left. The emotional drain of the day has left her as a limp as a dish rag and finally, she drops to the couch, falling into exhaustive sleep, dreading the days to come. As the day breaks, Linda awakens to a sun-drenched morning. Perfect in every way, and I do mean every way, because when she goes down to the kitchen, there is a very much alive, smiling Jim drinking his morning coffee. Shocked, confused, discombobulated, disoriented, Linda questions everything around here. Is she going crazy? Did she dream Jim’s death? Did she suffer head trauma or memory loss? Adding to the confusion is the calendar. It should be Thursday. Jim died on Wednesday. It should be Thursday, but every calendar in her house indicates it is the Monday before the accident. Linda’s trauma only increases when she awakens the next day and it’s not Tuesday, but Saturday and Jim is again “dead” and his wake is taking place in their home. Her life is no longer linear. And then it hits her. Given the upset in the time continuum and what may or may not be about to happen, can she stop it? Can she play with Fate and stop Jim’s death? But more importantly, should she.
Sandra Bullock delves into new darker territory here with mixed results. Her interpretation of Linda flies in the face of everything we accept as what someone in Linda’s position would do. Your husband is dead. Yet, there is no rage or pain in Linda. Time is shifting and it may be possible to change it, yet as Linda, Bullock gives her no sense of strength or survival (which is always one of Bullock’s strong suits) and in fact, takes on a passivity that just doesn’t sit well with the audience. But, despite these shortcomings, Bullock is believable as the perfect wife and mother. I would have preferred to see some of what she brought to the table in “Hope Floats” in terms of visible confusion, denial and angst. And Julian McMahon…what did they do with his character? Always a very strong persona on screen, he falls flat as Jim, despite an obvious chemistry with Bullock that I, for one, feel should have been explored and developed more within the story. This man is the essence of believability be he demonically strong, sleazy, unethical or a king of sweetness, devotion and romance, yet I saw none of that here. A complete waste of talent was casting Kate Nelligan as Linda’s mother, Joanne. Relegated to the background, she is more ornamental than anything else. Further development of Joanne could have added so much to the film and aided in solving some of the continuity problems and Nelligan has such strength as an actress that there is nothing she couldn’t bring to the table given the chance.
Written by Bill Kelly, I am discouraged and disappointed beyond belief. The man responsible for the fun-filled time warped family in “Blast From the Past”, despite its interesting premise, with PREMONITION we have a haphazardly inconsistent script, with temporal and character vacillations that are always unclear, unresolved and confusing. Innuendo of the metaphysical and philosophical mores are interlaced throughout the story but never truly comes to fruition or are so hidden in meaning, an hour after the credits roll, the puzzle pieces start to come together. Even the familial background is never fully fleshed out, giving a lack of plausibility to some of the foreboding doom-filled suspenseful trappings enlisted by director Mennan Yapo. PREMONITION marks the English language feature debut of Mennan Yapo.
Despite the problems with the script, Yapo turns in a film with art house quality and appeal. He incorporates all the expected elements of a supernatural thriller complete with noises, whooshing and swooshing, ominous score, dead crows, lightening bolts, priests, and so on and so forth. But sadly, you never geta sense that this is Yapo’s film. There is nothing distinctive about the look or the voice, giving only a sense of textbook mechanics. Given my respect for not only Sandra Bullock and her talent and ability, but Julian McMahon and scriptwriter Bill Kelly, it pains me to say this – too bad someone didn’t have a premonition of what the final cut of PREMONITION would be. Too bad I didn’t. It would have saved me from having to give this less than stellar review. Linda Hanson – Sandra Bullock Jim Hanson – Julian McMahon Annie – Nia Long Joanne – Kate Nelligan Directed by Mennan Yapo. Written by Bill Kelly. Rated PG-13. (100 min)
