This is an odd ball Depp film that is incredibly moody and, by the end, really trippy. If anyone other than Depp had tried this role, I don't think it would have worked, but his character, for all his faults, is surprisingly sympathetic. I found the character both equally captivating and repelling; so weird. I'm generally not of fan of silly 'mistaken identity' movies, but this one is more than that. Instead of just falling into a role, the character kind of becomes the character that everyone thinks he is. It's an odd metamorphosis, but it kind of works. Chekov in the old West, maybe?
This one isn't for everyone, and I certainly fell asleep my first time through near the end, but it is an interesting movie...if you can stay awake.
One Movie to Skip: Phantoms
I wanted to like this movie, as an occasional Dean Koontz fan, but it fell a little flat for me. What is the deal with Ben Affleck movies? He's ok if he's paired with other (better) actors, but I just don't buy into his characters when he has to carry them off by himself. Beyond that, I also don't buy him in an action role. Even though Affleck keeps getting action roles over and over again, it just doesn't work. I do wonder if I would have felt differently if Ryan Reynolds had played the title role, but probably not. Frankly, he really isn't much better.
As for the movie itself, it's a tad ridiculous. I didn't find it that scary, and I just couldn't care about the characters. I find that when you get too much stupidity from the main characters early on in the movie, you just start rooting for the monster to eat them so you don't have to watch the movie any more. That's kind of how I felt about this one...
