Irresistible 2006
A film review by Timothy Voon Copyright 2006 Timothy Voon
3 out of 5 stars
Cast: Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, Emily Blunt, Amanda Douge, Joanna Hunt-Prokhovnik, William McInnes, Georgie Parker, Charles 'Bud" Tingwell Director: Ann Turner Screenplay: Ann Turner
The weakness with 'Irresistible' lies mainly in its plot and its strength lies in the solid performances from its cast. Sam Neil, Susan Sarandon and Emily Blunt are dependable when it comes to delivering a performance, and are probably the only thing that saves this film from being predictable or even worse, mediocre.
Things start out slowly in this beautiful Victorian home set in a leafy, sunny part of suburban Melbourne. The plot revolves around Sophie (Susan Sarandon) who is a children's book artist with a fascination for owls. Her mother recently died, and adding to her stress levels are deadlines for her work, 2 children to look after and a bad case of insomnia. Sophie's husband Craig (Sam Neil) is an architect who spends much of this time at work, leaving Sophie alone at home a lot with the children. Things appear well for this family on a superficial level. Sophie and Craig appear in love, and their children seem happy until the arrival of Mara (Emily Blunt), a work colleague of Craig's.
>From this moment, things start to go awry. Toys and dresses go missing, doors open and close by itself, and strange noises echo through the home making the already edgy Sophie turn into a nervous wreck. It is amusing to see Susan Sarandon's large eyes go that little bit wider as she starts to look anxious, worried and finally paranoid. However, this is not so much a movie thriller, than a mystery sprinkled with light suspense. The 'fear' level never rises higher that a loud 'BOOOO!!!' uttered from a child's mouth.
The pretext for this movie is for the audience to guess/discover whether Sophie is slowly going insane, or whether there is truth in her claims - that someone is stalking her and her family. The final revelation is not so much a 'WOW' than a mere raised eyebrow.
There are also wonderful shots of the Immigration Museum, Burnley Tunnel and the city skyline for those familiar with Melbourne city. It is also great to see international stars like Susan Sarandon and Emily Blunt willing to come to Australia to make this picture.
Timothy Voon
Email - winklebeck@hotmail.com Web - http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Tim+Voon
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