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Review #359 of 365
Movie Review of Thr3e (2007) [PG-13] 105 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $10.50
Where Viewed: Cinemark Tinseltown USA, Colorado Springs, CO
When 1st Seen: 6 January 2007
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Robby Henson (The Visitation)
Screenplay by: Alan B. McElroy (The Marine) based on the book Thr3e by Ted Dekker
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Marc Blucas (First Daughter) • Justine Waddell (Dracula 2000) • Laura Jordan (Berkeley ) • Max Ryan (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) • Bill Moseley ("Carnivàle") • Priscilla Barnes ("Three's Company") • Tom Bower (The Hills Have Eyes (2006)) • Jeffrey Lee Hollis (Unidentified)
Breaking its short tradition of heavily faith-based themes about families adhered to in Fox's FoxFaith Movies releasesLove's Abiding Joy and One Night with the King the latest film from the Christian friendly movie house is an adaptation of Ted Dekker's novel, Thr3e about a psychopathic serial killer who leaves riddles and improbably timetables for the police to solve before an explosion kills innocent people. But, Thr3e, goes a bit beyond the vengeful killer's tale when a young theology student named Kevin Parsons (Marc Blucas) is spared by the killer who then joins the police pursuit to identify and catch him.
Marc Blucas as Kevin Parsons, the tortured protagonist of Thr3e.(Click Still Photo to Enlarge)
The police profiler attached to capturing RK (The Riddle Killer) is the lovely Justine Waddell (Jennifer Peters) whose pouty and introspective glares would make her a fitting successor to Rachel Ward if ever an Against All Odds sequel is made. But Kevin Parsons is no ordinary joe. He's the grown up incarnation of a boy who was raised in nearly perverse isolation by his looney bin-ready, tiara-wearing Aunt Belinda (Priscilla Barnes) and subservient, fez-wearing Uncle Eugene (Tom Bower). They only leave the house on rare occasions and spend the bulk of their lives clipping every news story about the presidents of the USA and replacing their faces and names with that of President Eisenhower (the only man they believe has ever been worthy to be the president). As a boy, Kevin was limited in his allowance to know the outside world, locked in cages and cupboards, and punished and tortured for having ideas of going out or knowing more or better than his Aunt. Somehow, he escaped her wrath and went on to college and a masters degree in a life of seeming normalcy until now. In the middle of writing his theological PhD thesis on the topic of good vs. evil, he's hit a wall and then gotten himself somehow into the middle of RK's plot to wreak havoc on the unwitting city. A close friend of his, Samantha (Laura Johnson) appears out of thin air to help him through this mess as RK continues to taunt him and the trustworthiness of Jennifer Peters and the police come under fire as some how RK keeps learning Kevin's secret whereabouts. RK keeps demanding that Kevin confess his sins, and as the plot unfolds Kevin comes to grip with a dark secret in his past. He confronted a bully in an abandoned warehouse where he eventually left the other boy to die. This buried memory unleashes other psychological turmoil on Kevin as the edges of reality for him begin to blur. Along the way, Samantha will exhibit bravery and loyalty far beyond human reason prompting doubt as to the logic or believability of her character if not the screenplay itself. A stupefying twist at the end will resolve these conflicts but not without an unlikely heroic rise from Jennifer Peters.
"The twist is very satisfying in the end for it provokes a sense of growing fear and madness conjoined with frustration at the idiotic decisions made by some of the characters…"
Thr3e is a study in the duality of human nature despite the title. Juxtaposing light and dark, good and evil, heroes and demons is the fodder of Ted Dekker and the resulting film based on his book. Within each of us lies the precipice of our moral compass. Falling either direction sets forth the good or evil fated outcome of our every decision. But, what happens to that compass when it is synchronized to an erroneous set of moral values imposed upon us by morally corrupt or mentally disturbed people? You'll just have to see Thr3e to find out. Not unlike the other FoxFaith Movies, the production values, acting, writing, and casting are just above those of a direct-to-DVD film. The budgets are tightly controlled, and it is expected that the bulk of the return on the investment will come from the after-markets not the big screen release. As for Thr3e, despite the lower budget feel to the film, the story (though it does draw comparisons to other recent horror and psycho drama films such as Saw) is a bit more involved and interesting than usual. The twist is very satisfying in the end for it provokes a sense of growing fear and madness conjoined with frustration at the idiotic decisions made by some of the characters such as going into a dangerous and explosive-laden warehouse occupied by a mad man…alone. So, it is, perhaps a bit better film than expected. Marc Blucas, in particular, developed Kevin's complex character in a way that surprises and compels compassion. His performance is the strongest in the film, and one that warrants him being considered for leading roles in future films.
Other Projects Featuring Thr3e (2006)
Cast Members
Marc Blucas
• Justine Waddell • Laura JordanMax Ryan
• Bill Moseley • Priscilla BarnesTom Bower
Director
Robby Henson
Screenwriter
Alan B. McElroy
Book Author
Ted Dekker
| Book | ||
| Same Director | Same Author | Same Author |
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