Day #17 Devil

One of the nice things about doing this blog by myself for myself is that I get to pick the movies that I watch almost entirely independently.  I don't have a magazine or publisher that requires me to see this weeks blockbuster or romantic comedy.  The problem is that I know my tastes and I am prone to watch movies that I think I am going to like or at least follow the filmography of film makers I admire.  I do however have a wonderful girl friend and from time to time I let her pick out the movies we watch together. 

This week opened 3 movies of interest to me.  Easy A, a modern telling of The Scarlet Letter starting Emma Stone.  The Town, Ben Affleck's sophomore effort about a south Boston neighborhood littered with bank robbers.  And Devil.  This movie is billed as "From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan".  A tag line that years ago would have excited me, now frightens me off.  After The Happening (my worst film of the 2000's) I have had no interest in seeing anything he does.  It sounds like I was correct judging by the horrid reviews The Last Airbender got.

Devil is a story about 5 people stuck in an elevator.  One by one they begin getting murdered and we don't which one of them is the culprit.  Mix into that a detective investigating a suicide who's wife and son were killed a few years by a drunk hit and run driver.  He is also struggling with his sobriety.  And a Hispanic Christian who believes that the devil is directly responsible for the deaths.

The premise is interesting and reminds me of a movie I really do want to see. "Buried" starring Ryan Reynolds.  That entire movie is set and shot inside a buried coffin.  Unfortunately, the direction, script and acting plays this out like a bad Twilight Zone episode.  The script is so flat and patronizing.  It doesn't trust it's audience for a second.  Better thrillers and directors know how to stage a scene to build intensity and intrigue.  Devil puts all the violence off screen, which can be effective when you don't know where the threat is coming from. When it is in the elevator with you it comes off as just lazy.

I don't like to blame actors for bad performances.  I believe in the auteur theory and place the blame on the director.  Especially when they don't have much to say, but the acting here is so over the top.  The confined space of the elevator I think made them uncomfortable and their performance suffered for it.

Well.the good news is that there are still two movies this week for me to catch up with and I am pretty sure they are going to be better than this lump.  I give Devil 2/5 stars.  For more information check out the link below for the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aINOilb_Kzc