Movie Review for P2 (2007)

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P2

Review #562 of 365
Movie Review of P2 (2007) [R] 98 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $7.25
Where Viewed: Harkins Ciné Capri at Northfield 18, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 11 November 2007
Time: 12:25 pm
DVD Release Date: 8 April 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer

Soundtrack: order the CD below

Directed by: Franck Khalfoun (debut)
Screenplay by: Alexandre Aga (The Hills Have Eyes) • Franck Khalfoun (debut) • Grégory Levasseur (The Hills Have Eyes)

Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Wes Bentley (Ghost Rider) • Rachel Nichols (Resurrecting the Champ) • Simon Reynolds (Saw IV)

Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to read the spoiler points for P2
If you've never seen a film about a mentally deranged guy who holds a woman prisoner because, in his own mind, they are meant to be together and she'll fall in love with him if only she will give him the time of day, then see P2. It's not a terrible way to be introduced to this genre—is it a genre? If you've seen one of these types of films before, then you may just prefer to skip it. The key difference to this one is just the setting—it takes place in the parking garage (level P2) of a Manhattan skyscraper on Christmas Eve. In this version, the workaholic, Angela Bridges (Rachel Nichols) gets a visit from a boss-like guy, Bob Harper (Simon Reynolds) where he apologizes for groping her inappropriately after the Christmas party claiming he'd simply had too much to drink. She accepts his apology, but sticks around the office longer trying to get work done in and amongst calls from her pesky family in New Jersey wondering why she's not left work yet. Eventually, just as she's ready to leave, she runs into the night security guy, Carl, who startles her. She asks him to escort her to the lobby which he does. They say good-bye, and she heads down into the parking garage. Her car, on level 2, won't start, but parking security guy, Thomas (Wes Bentley) aims to please. He offers to jump start her car, but it won't start.
"…a simplistic 'thriller' with poorly developed characters and predictable outcomes."
So, her plan is to call a cab. Which she does. Only, when it arrives, she finds she cannot get out of the building and Carl is nowhere to be found. So, back down into the depths of the garage she goes, only to eventually end up knocked out by chloroform and then dressed up for Christmas Even dinner with all-too-eager-to-please Thomas and her ankle chained to the table. No, this is not a sequel to Black Snake Moan. She is not wicked and in need of someone to change her life. Instead, Thomas is delusional believing that he will protect her reputation from the likes of Bob Harper and that she'll fall in love with him given enough time and conversation. The rest of the film then is devoted to fulfilling the promise of the genre: she must try to escape at all costs, and he must try to stop her.

Literally chock full of improbable and tortuously trite sequences of events, the film manages to build a bit of suspense as is nearly automatic in these types of films. It stands out, though, slightly because of the performance by Wes Bentley which is doe-eyed charming nearly to the degree of Anthony Perkins in Psycho—not that P2 is anywhere near the league of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece. Had the writing team of Alexandre Aga , Franck Khalfoun, and Grégory Levasseur thought more about what made Psycho so good they would have seen several flaws right away in their screenplay. First, they did a very good job of making Thomas a more sympathetic villain, but they did nothing to really engage the audience with the character of Angela. In fact, at times, she seems insufferable, and the strategies she uses later to escape and her inexplicable inability not to just shut up—she seems to need to whimper and breathe heavily all the time—make her seem less heroic than desperate. Second, they might have realized that a villain with no back story is a bit less powerful. What flipped Thomas's switch from good to deranged and misguided? Was it his mother? Well, of course, the whole Oedipal mother thing has been done and done and done again, but something has to have set him off, and without being too blunt or trite, it would have added to the depth of his character had there been more insight into it. The net result is we get a woman we don't really care for running around a parking garage trying to escape from a deranged, but charming, parking garage attendant for an hour and a half. Again, if it were not for Wes Bentley's better than average performance, the film wouldn't have been worth watching. Actually, no one would probably want to admit this, but the recently assailed Captivity was a far better film with nearly exactly the same basic premise. The one most prominent flaw was that there were literally too many more intelligent and logical ways to get out of that building than Angela tries. Why didn't she just pull any fire alarm? One could assume Thomas disabled the system, but she never even tries, and at the end, the fire sprinklers all go off (see the spoiler points), so it seems that, actually, he didn't. Overall, P2 is a simplistic 'thriller' with poorly developed characters and predictable outcomes from rookie director Franck Khalfoun.

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Cast Members
Wes Bentley • Rachel Nichols • Simon Reynolds
Director
Franck Khalfoun
Writers
Alexandre Aga • Franck Khalfoun • Grégory Levasseur

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Review-lite P2 (2007) [max of 150 words]
Were it not for Wes Bentley's better than average performance, P2 wouldn't have been worth watching. Actually, no one would probably want to admit this, but the recently assailed Captivity was a far better film with nearly exactly the same basic premise. While not a terrible way to be introduced to this sub-genre of thrillers, overall, P2 is a simplistic 'thriller' with poorly developed characters and predictable outcomes from rookie director Franck Khalfoun.
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