7/10
Average at best; better than some....
13 September 2004
I have to say, I always enjoy Johnny Depp's work. He is a chameleon; an actor who can take literally any role, who can step outside the boundaries of typecasting. And, his performance in this film is in no way weaker than any other character; it is merely a role that not many are likely to recall when asked about him. The film builds decently enough. Depp and Theron play a married couple, and a significant element of stress begins to grow on Theron following Depp's events during an orbital assignment given to his character.

I also like Charlize Theron; my one nitpick is how she seems to always find her way into these 'tormented woman' roles, like in the Devil's Advocate. Her skills are not necessarily hindered by this repetitiveness; I just find it a redundancy she needs to work beyond. Those of you watching this film for a horror-themed thriller are going to be mostly put off. This film really does not rely to such an extent the horror mechanisms; rather it builds the tension through a number of strictly dialogue scenes, using the plot to intrigue rather than scare tactics.

The ending - quite literally, the last twenty minutes, is the only place you're likely to see what may be called horror. I will not give away what happens here; you have to watch it and see. All I will say is that the ending left me anticipating more. That said, my overall opinion is this movie is satisfactory at best, not a true stand out in the annals of cinema history, but certainly not one of the poorest examples of the profession.
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