The Invisible (2007)

Director:

David S. Goyer

Writers (WGA):

Mick Davis (screenplay) and
Christine Roum (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Life, death and something in between.

Plot:

After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able help him is his attacker.

Plot Keywords:

Limbo | Beating | High School | Airplane Ticket | Death

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Justin Chatwin	...	Nick Powell
Margarita Levieva	...	Annie Newton
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Diane Powell
Chris Marquette	...	Pete Egan
Alex O'Loughlin	...	Marcus Bohem
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Detective Brian Larson
Michelle Harrison	...	Detective Kate Tunney
Ryan Kennedy	...	Matty
Andrew Francis	...	Dean
P. Lynn Johnson	...	Sharon Egan
Serge Houde	...	Martin Egan
Desiree Zurowski	...	Lindy Newton
Mark Houghton	...	Jack Newton
Alex Ferris	...	Victor Newton
Tania Saulnier	...	Suzie

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, criminality, sensuality and language - all involving teens.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42920) | Germany:12 | UK:12A | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Malaysia:18PL | Australia:M | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-13 | Iceland:14

Filming Locations:

Burnaby Mountain Secondary School, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Hollywood Pictures

Trivia:

The shirt that Nick is wearing at the end of the movie bears a crow on the chest. In some Native American legends (and the graphic novel by James O'Barr bearing the name) the crow could carry a person's soul back from the land of the dead.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Nick writes "HEY ANNIE" on the model plane at the end, the plane is shown flying around but there is no writing visible on the wing.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Diane Powell: It wasn't easy when Nick's father died, raising a teenager alone. But with a boy like Nick, well, he is now everything a mother could want. We've been through some hard times. We've carried each other. Now I look to the future, and I know there's nothing that we can't do together.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Den osynlige (2002)

Soundtrack:

Music for a Nurse

What a mess they made of the concept!

As a science fiction/fantasy this movie starts out interesting but they just can't stick with the premise.

Annie Newton is a cute petite teenage girl is supposed to be the tough leader of a male high school gang . She gets into a small physical fight with Nick Powell, a star student who has his own problems. Later she robs a Jewelry store and stashes some of the loot in her high school locker. Her boyfriend, an older tough out on parole, is angry that she is disobeying him, and so tips off the police that the loot is in her locker. She mistakingly believes that Nick was the police source, so she and her gang beat him to death and dispose of his body where it won't be found. Only, as Billy Crystal said in "Princess Bride," there's dead and there is nearly dead. Nick is in a coma but still alive. That's when the "science fiction" kicks in. A spirit Nick is free to roam around his neighborhood while his body is between life and death. No one can hear, feel or see him, and he has no way of contacting them.

The spirit Nick wants someone to find his body and get it to a hospital. Eventually, for a reason never explained, Annie begins to feel his presence. By the end of the movie, again with no explanation, he is able to talk using Annie sort of as a "medium."

The way the film has the spirit interact with the real world is interesting and novel. The rest of the concept is a rehash of other films that have ghosts trying to communicate with live people, and of evil people developing a conscience.

I'm not sure which is more unbelievable, the spirit scenes or the concept of Annie as the leader of the gang.

The film does have some genuine pathos and the acting is good. But it is a waste of time.