After a promising start that sees our hero look into a female patient's mind whilst she is under hypnosis, this psycho-drama quickly degenerates into the realms of familiarity and becomes a rather turgid and dull thriller. The story follows that of Michael Strother (Goran Visnjic), a hypnotist that can also read minds. While treating a patient (Shirley Henderson) for smoking one day, he has a vision of a young girl drowning and we later find out that she is the only escaped victim from a serial killer known as 'The Tattoo killer'. Naturally, Michael gets drawn in to help the police with their investigation.
A film like this has no end of possibilities for imaginative and exciting sequences, but the movie features very little of them. The best scene...and only good scene, really, comes from the death of one of the central characters, which is one of the most disturbing and painful I have ever seen; an incision is made in his chest and then, while he's still alive, a live rat is inserted into the hole. The thoughts you could have about that are endless! The film does have a good aspect in that there is a lot of tension. Even though the characters are underdeveloped and we don't ever really feel the need to care for them; the film piles on the tension and some scenes are literally nail-biting. Notice I said 'some scenes', though...for every time it works, there's another time where it didn't.
Doctor Sleep is a film that was funded by the BBC, which is ironic as it feels very much like one of those drama series' that the BBC puts out. The director, Nick Willing is also the genius behind two other made for TV outings; remakes of Alice in Wonderland and Jason and the Argonauts. But it's not his direction that makes this feel like made-for-TV, it's the acting that does it. For the most part, it's awful! The actors don't look or sound like they are putting in any effort at all, and most of their voices sound very put on. The ensemble of actors that have been put together is a mixed bag indeed. Goran Visnjic stars, and he's not bad. He's never brilliant, but at least he's believable. Starring opposite him is Shirley Henderson. Her performance is the worst in the movie, and maybe one of the worst ever. She's a good-looking lady, but she can't act. Paddy Considine, who you may remember from the overrated "In America", appears for a little while and he's not bad, and Miranda Otto; the most impressive lady in Lord of the Rings, is very much wasted.
The script is also of note in this film. Of note for being really bad, that is. It feels, at times, like it has been written by a couple of eight year olds. No, that's unfair; a couple of eight year olds and a monkey, a clever monkey even (as stupid ones don't know how to write). Some of the things that the characters say are absolutely ridiculous and totally unrealistic, such as the exchange between Goran and the gasman, and the episode of about 5 minutes where, it seems, the scriptwriters have tried to give Shirley Henderson as many swear words as possible to say.
It's a shame overall as this could have been a decent thriller to rival the big American ones, had they have chosen a better lead actress, hired a professional scriptwriter, been more imaginative and not had the whole thing feel like a poor made-for-TV movie.... oh well.
A film like this has no end of possibilities for imaginative and exciting sequences, but the movie features very little of them. The best scene...and only good scene, really, comes from the death of one of the central characters, which is one of the most disturbing and painful I have ever seen; an incision is made in his chest and then, while he's still alive, a live rat is inserted into the hole. The thoughts you could have about that are endless! The film does have a good aspect in that there is a lot of tension. Even though the characters are underdeveloped and we don't ever really feel the need to care for them; the film piles on the tension and some scenes are literally nail-biting. Notice I said 'some scenes', though...for every time it works, there's another time where it didn't.
Doctor Sleep is a film that was funded by the BBC, which is ironic as it feels very much like one of those drama series' that the BBC puts out. The director, Nick Willing is also the genius behind two other made for TV outings; remakes of Alice in Wonderland and Jason and the Argonauts. But it's not his direction that makes this feel like made-for-TV, it's the acting that does it. For the most part, it's awful! The actors don't look or sound like they are putting in any effort at all, and most of their voices sound very put on. The ensemble of actors that have been put together is a mixed bag indeed. Goran Visnjic stars, and he's not bad. He's never brilliant, but at least he's believable. Starring opposite him is Shirley Henderson. Her performance is the worst in the movie, and maybe one of the worst ever. She's a good-looking lady, but she can't act. Paddy Considine, who you may remember from the overrated "In America", appears for a little while and he's not bad, and Miranda Otto; the most impressive lady in Lord of the Rings, is very much wasted.
The script is also of note in this film. Of note for being really bad, that is. It feels, at times, like it has been written by a couple of eight year olds. No, that's unfair; a couple of eight year olds and a monkey, a clever monkey even (as stupid ones don't know how to write). Some of the things that the characters say are absolutely ridiculous and totally unrealistic, such as the exchange between Goran and the gasman, and the episode of about 5 minutes where, it seems, the scriptwriters have tried to give Shirley Henderson as many swear words as possible to say.
It's a shame overall as this could have been a decent thriller to rival the big American ones, had they have chosen a better lead actress, hired a professional scriptwriter, been more imaginative and not had the whole thing feel like a poor made-for-TV movie.... oh well.