Playing Games With Memories

In spite of the critics' lack of enthusiasm for Danny Boyle's new movie Trance, I had to pay attention to anything that the director produced after his Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. Plus, Vincent Cassel (who won a Cesar award for his role in Mesrine) is one of my most favourite actors.

This is another flick that constantly works your brains. Just when I thought that I had the whole plot figured out, there came another surprise - layers and layers of it! The ending is shocking and incredible, but if you constantly question the storyline of movies, half of them would not be watchable!

This stylistic heist is a big play on human memory. Somehow, this has lately become a popular theme for movies - Inception, Total Recall, Oblivion and now Trance. But if you believe in the power of hypnotics, then this is the movie for you. But coming from Boyle, the movie is a bit disappointing. This is a thriller with a lot of violence and action, but short of brilliance. It's as if Boyle, after his witty direction of the London Olympics, wants to continue with showing off London in its best form. Under his direction, London is hip, mysterious, romantic, stylish, sinister and foggy. But style trumps substance - that's where the problem lies.

But at least the actors are strong, particularly Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson. James McAvoy's innocent looks always limit his versatility as an actor. He always gives 150 percent but efforts do not necessarily imply impact and depth.

For us Vincent Cassel fans, we always wonder why he's not a bigger star in North America. He has won numerous awards in France and appeared in many Hollywood movies (Eastern Promises, Black Swan and Ocean's Trilogy). But he's always just the bad guy, that's it. I understand that he's currently living with his family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he's producing a new movie. Maybe it would be finally a movie with him demonstrating his full acting talent without strutting his animal magnetism?

Rosario Dawson is always a formidable actress and talented artist. Whether it's her teaming up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit "1999," or her performance in Quentin Tarentino's Death Proof, she's always got a cool factor in her. Because of her exotic ethnicity - Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent - a lot of film critics find her beautiful.  Judging from her romantic history (she's dated former Sex and the City star Jason Lewis for two years and then dated Danny Boyle in 2012 when they were shooting this movie), obviously the men in the acting world agreed. Although most of the film critics raved about the sex scene between her and Cassel in this movie, I just didn't find it that significant. But Dawson might garner an Oscar nomination for her performance as Elisabeth Lamb, the hynotherapist who turns the world upside down in the film.

I salute the director for keeping me guessing till the end, but is the conclusion ridiculously unbelievable? Yes it is, but I like it even though I'm disappointed with Boyle.