The Flock (2007)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Wai-keung Lau

Writers:

Hans Bauer (writer)
Craig Mitchell (writer)

Release Date:

4 August 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Your fear is their desire

Plot:

This film is about a hyper-vigilant employee of the department of public safety who, while training his young female replacement, has to track down a missing girl who he is convinced is connected to a paroled sex offender he is investigating.

Plot Keywords:

Sex Offender | Investigation | Retirement | Pornography | Flashlight

Cast

Richard Gere	...	Erroll Babbage
Claire Danes	...	Allison Lowry
KaDee Strickland	...	Viola Frye
Ray Wise	...	Bobby Stiles
Russell Sams	...	Edmund Grooms
Avril Lavigne	...	Beatrice Bell
Kristina Sisco	...	Harriet Wells
Dwayne L. Barnes	...	Vincent Dennison (as Dwayne Barnes)
Matt Schulze	...	Glenn Custis
Debrianna Mansini	...	Harriet's Mother
Ed Ackerman	...	Louis Kessler
French Stewart	...	Haynes Ownby
Paul Scallan	...	Missing Girl's Father
Susan Conklin	...	Missing Girl's Mother
Carmen Serano	...	Woman in Gorilla Suit

MPAA:

Rated R for perverse content involving aberrant sexuality and strong violence, and for language.

Runtime:

105 min | Canada:97 min | USA:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:16 | Argentina:16 | Germany:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Australia:MA | Taiwan:R-12 | Finland:K-15 | Peru:18 | South Korea:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Italy:VM18 | Mexico:C | Japan:R-15

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Bauer Martinez Studios

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Erroll is flicking through Vincent Dennison's stuff. He opens a pornography magazine up. When he skips to the next page, exactly the same photo is shown on it.

Quotes:

Allison Lowry, Erroll Babbage: Tell me about your double life. What do you think about? I think about a girl who's dead because I didn't look in a closet.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-05-17)" (2008)

Interesting ideas, poor execution.

The films starts of good: the premise is intriguing and there are some scenes that get you dragged into the movie. As the movie progresses, the script starts making less and less sense and the last twenty minutes felt incredibly rushed and out of tone.

The direction wasn't good at all. What bothered me for instance was the camera-work. Too many different styles are mixed and it all ends up looking incredibly sloppy instead of the intended 'modern/flashy' effect. The music should have been better too. There were numerous examples of scenes that should have been silent that had music playing in the background and vice versa. Also, the music played was not of the highest quality.

The film is somewhat engaging, it deals with a sensitive subject and tries to deal with it in an honest yet confronting matter. At least, in the beginning. In the 2nd part of the movie there's little left of the objectivity in the script. I won't name any concrete examples because I don't want to spoil it for anyone but I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about if you ever see it.

The acting was all right in my opinion. Not top notch but not horrible either. Gere is average like always and Danes doesn't really leave big impression either. The supporting cast should've been better, the example of Miss Avril Lavigne immediately comes to mind. She manages to ruin the only scene she has.

Many people will compare this movie to 8mm, because of the similar harsh theme but they have little in common. 8mm is a lot more powerful,darker and shows more guts(not literally). It's easily the better film. There are some shocking scenes in 'The Flock', one of which resembles a scene in 8mm a lot but this time they lacked the nerve to go all the way.

To summarize, is this movie bad? No, but it won't blow you away. The ideas are interesting but after a while the script feels uninspired and formulaic. The acting is mediocre and the score is bad. It's not really worth seeing but it'll briefly entertain you.

5.4/10