If you’re looking for mindless entertainment you will find some in Trespass, a flawed home invasion thriller from Joel Schumacher. Directed by the guy who was behind such great movies like Phone Booth and 8MM, I had high hopes for this movie. In the end, it was just another average hostage situation movie with horrible characters. I had an immediate dislike of them. A rich guy obsessing over his job, an aging wife along with a troubled teen could not be more stereotypical and irritating. And all of them are living this huge mansion, fucking one percenters. If you want to see a great movie featuring a somewhat similar story check out Hostage.
Anywhoo, apart from the story and characters the rest is up to the Hollywood big movie standards. This means that the camera work is phenomenal, as well as acting and sets, so the movie looks really good. But one of the more important ingredients of a good movie, characters, is totally unpredictable and at times just stupid. How come no one mentions this upon the reading of the script or even during the shoot is beyond me. Still, if you are bored and have nothing else to do, this will fill your daily dosage of movies just fine. Actually, during the movie, you can make fun of the characters and whine about how unrealistic they are, making it somewhat better.
A diamond broker Kyle Miller has everything, a big mansion, a pretty wife and daughter and now he just closed a huge deal at work. So it seems that everything is going well for the Millers. But, under the surface, there are many problems that lie hidden. His obsession with work and lack of time for the family, or his wife’s midlife crisis. All this is about to surface when a bunch of robbers breaks into their apartment.
Please do not confuse this movie, Trespass 2011 with another that has the same title but was released back in 1992. Trespass 1992 is a much better movie featuring one hell of a story and quite a formidable cast. Speaking of which, it’s one of the few redeeming qualities this movie has to offer. Cage was strangely subdued and Nicole very believable and intense, making the most out of this flawed script. On the other hand, I truly enjoyed watching just how crazy the reactions of the characters are going to be. They are over-the-top unrealistic along with catchphrase lines that are simply hilarious. Granted, there are a couple of twists that you could feel coming but it’s still nice they’re there.
Director: Joel Schumacher
Writer: Karl Gajdusek
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Liana Liberato, Cam Gigandet, Dash Mihok, Ben Mendelsohn, Jordana Spiro
Fun Facts: With a budget of $35 million, it made just over $24,094 after ten days in theaters. There were no more screenings in theaters after that period.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674784/
