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Review #453 of 365
Movie Review of The Invisible (2007) [PG-13] 97 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.50
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 27 April 2007
Time: 8:20 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: 16 October 2007
Directed by: David S. Goyer (Blade: Trinity)
Screenplay by: Mick Davis (Wake of Death) and Christine Roum (Bodyguard II) based on the book Den Osynlige by Mats Wahl
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds) • Margarita Levieva ("Vanished") • Marcia Gay Harden (The Hoax) • Chris Marquette (Alpha Dog) • Alex O'Loughlin (The Holiday) • Callum Keith Rennie (Code Name: The Cleaner)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
As Hollywood continues to search for new stories and new ground to cover, it is discovering the world is fertile ground exemplified by David S. Goyer's film, The Invisible, adapted from the book Den Osynlige by Swedish author Mats Wahl which was made into a Swedish film in 2002. Goyer's version, brought to US audiences by the producers of The Sixth Sense as is heavily advertised on the posters and other film publicity materials, keeps faithful to the original with updates for the USA audience. Unfortunately, there are two pre-cursor glitches. First, someone needs to tell the producers of The Sixth Sense (still holding strong as my favorite film of all time) that their names can be a liability rather than an asset if the film is not, at least, half as good as The Sixth Sense—expecting a film to be as good (even M. Night himself hasn't done it) or even close is too high an expectation, but ½ seems perfectly realistic.
"… an incongruous film with standout performances by the young leads …"
And, sadly, The Invisible isn't ½ as good. Second, the preview of this film which has been running forever since the release date for the film kept getting pushed further and further back—a sign that can mean just about anything from the movie is terrible and needs work to the movie is great and needs a weekend with less competition to be noticed, in other words it means nothing—gives away just about everything anyone could ever want to know about the plot. The only people that might know more would the ones that either read the book or saw the Swedish version back in 2002—in other words the trailer spoils everything. Recently, I had begun to feel that maybe, just maybe, Hollywood trailer makers were starting to get it. They were starting to understand their job or, at least, my description of it. To me, their job is to put together footage of a film that will entice me to see it, but give away almost nothing. Honestly, I don't even like to know who's in a film before seeing it. I love the complete surprise. The trailer for The Invisible nearly renders the need for spoiler reviews to ever be written because there's almost no surprises. Anyway, so, it's hard for a film to do well out of the gate with these two blows against it when it comes to word of mouth from people who go see every movie the weekend they come out. Two comments you don't want "Not as good as The Sixth Sense" and "Basically everything's in the preview". Yuck.
So, if you can get beyond those two things, and convince yourself to plop down $8-10 buckaroos, you're probably a Justin Chatwin fan—you know, Justin Chatwin? Yeah, you know, the brother from War of the Worlds. Yeah, that kid. Well, he's older now. Of course, and moodier. He's got gallons of that teen angst thing going. Don't smile at him, don't frown, don't be nice, don't be mean, don't talk to him really, unless you're one of his close dorky friends, that kind of teen angst. Oh yeah. And, that's what this movie is all about really. A whole lot of idiotic teen angst. Let's recap, not like it's that necessary, but there might be a few people who didn't see the preview. Ok, so, Nick Powell's (Justin Chatwin) father died when he was little. And his mom, Diane (Marcia Gay Harden) tells him "Nothing about your life is going to change because of this." Huh? His dad died. What about his life is going to be the same? Especially with a wallowing, blubbery walrus of a mother who can barely glance at her son over the morning paper to give him the time of day and possibly discuss a summer writing course in London he's dying to take. Little does he know that his plan to flee to London on his own just before his high school graduation will be sabotaged by his gutless, "with a best friend like this who needs enemies" buddy Pete (Chris Marquette) who tells the drug dealer, troubled girl of the school, Annie Newton (Margarita Levieva) that it's Nick who narced on her about the stolen jewelry in her locker getting her sent to juvy and mysteriously released in no time thinking that he's going to be on a plane to London and she won't be able to retaliate against him. Yes, you read that correctly. Nick's supposed best friend, turns him over to Annie as the narc to save his own walloping at the hands of her henchmen—actually it was her own supposed boyfriend, Marcus (Alex O'Loughlin) that narced on her because he was sick of her antics and constant grandstanding that was putting his parole at risk. Anyway, when Annie finds out that Nick narced on her, she somehow finds him wandering home from a party he's gone to to relieve his angst over a fight he had with his mother about going to London without her knowledge, and she and her henchmen kill him or so they think. Then they hide the body. Nick wakes up the next day and goes to school where he discovers he's either just plain invisible or a ghost. Unlike in the preview where a scary man in the hospital tells him that if he can solve the mystery of his own murder before it's too late, he'll get to live again, he has to figure this out for himself in this film. That scary man scene apparently got cut from the final edit. Anyway, so if you haven't seen enough teen angst to last you a lifetime up to this point, be prepared for what's to come because now that Nick is ghost-like, he can let out his angst at every street corner. And, while it will seem totally odd to most sane people, Annie and Pete will continue to feel the screen with their own angst, not the guilt one might expect. Annie will take us now on a journey to see why she's so tough and hardened. Her remarried father has filled her life with reasons for angst well, well beyond those of an average teen. As for Pete? Well, we'll never know all the sources of his angst or how he lives with himself knowing full well that he's directly responsible for the 'death' of his 'best' friend. Ironically, while the film does allow for reconciliation between Nick and Annie, Pete just never really gets dealt with. His guilt does finally get the better of him, as it should, but not until way, way past the point of normalcy. This kid is just a complete numnutz, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
Now all of that may sound harsh and tend to make one think that The Invisible isn't a good film. Well, that's not entirely true. It's actually not that bad at all. While it suffers from some hard to comprehend character behavior and some horrendous over-acting, it has some merits. Justin Chatwin shows promise as a young actor. He's got some of the most emotion-filled eyes set in the most emotionless face I've ever seen. This is the ideal combination for an actor playing characters filled with rage, anger, or unbelievable grief—all of which bubble within Nick Powell's psyche. Likewise, Margarita Levieva showed herself to be a dynamic, physical, multi-dimensional actress. The moment she finally removes her stocking cap to let out that gorgeous mane of curly locks, was nearly breathtaking. She endowed her character fully with the capacity for growth, eventual regret, and the will do change. If one distills the film down to an examination of just these two characters and their interactions, which is the essence of the film and the way it ends, the result is pretty compelling and interesting. As for the rest of the film? Well, it's well-filmed and directed. The writing is uneven as is the character development. The scenery is beautiful and yet ominous. In the end, it's an incongruous film with standout performances by the young leads. The best and the worst blended together like expensive coffee swirled with artificial, gelatinous whipped crème.
So, if you can get beyond those two things, and convince yourself to plop down $8-10 buckaroos, you're probably a Justin Chatwin fan—you know, Justin Chatwin? Yeah, you know, the brother from War of the Worlds. Yeah, that kid. Well, he's older now. Of course, and moodier. He's got gallons of that teen angst thing going. Don't smile at him, don't frown, don't be nice, don't be mean, don't talk to him really, unless you're one of his close dorky friends, that kind of teen angst. Oh yeah. And, that's what this movie is all about really. A whole lot of idiotic teen angst. Let's recap, not like it's that necessary, but there might be a few people who didn't see the preview. Ok, so, Nick Powell's (Justin Chatwin) father died when he was little. And his mom, Diane (Marcia Gay Harden) tells him "Nothing about your life is going to change because of this." Huh? His dad died. What about his life is going to be the same? Especially with a wallowing, blubbery walrus of a mother who can barely glance at her son over the morning paper to give him the time of day and possibly discuss a summer writing course in London he's dying to take. Little does he know that his plan to flee to London on his own just before his high school graduation will be sabotaged by his gutless, "with a best friend like this who needs enemies" buddy Pete (Chris Marquette) who tells the drug dealer, troubled girl of the school, Annie Newton (Margarita Levieva) that it's Nick who narced on her about the stolen jewelry in her locker getting her sent to juvy and mysteriously released in no time thinking that he's going to be on a plane to London and she won't be able to retaliate against him. Yes, you read that correctly. Nick's supposed best friend, turns him over to Annie as the narc to save his own walloping at the hands of her henchmen—actually it was her own supposed boyfriend, Marcus (Alex O'Loughlin) that narced on her because he was sick of her antics and constant grandstanding that was putting his parole at risk. Anyway, when Annie finds out that Nick narced on her, she somehow finds him wandering home from a party he's gone to to relieve his angst over a fight he had with his mother about going to London without her knowledge, and she and her henchmen kill him or so they think. Then they hide the body. Nick wakes up the next day and goes to school where he discovers he's either just plain invisible or a ghost. Unlike in the preview where a scary man in the hospital tells him that if he can solve the mystery of his own murder before it's too late, he'll get to live again, he has to figure this out for himself in this film. That scary man scene apparently got cut from the final edit. Anyway, so if you haven't seen enough teen angst to last you a lifetime up to this point, be prepared for what's to come because now that Nick is ghost-like, he can let out his angst at every street corner. And, while it will seem totally odd to most sane people, Annie and Pete will continue to feel the screen with their own angst, not the guilt one might expect. Annie will take us now on a journey to see why she's so tough and hardened. Her remarried father has filled her life with reasons for angst well, well beyond those of an average teen. As for Pete? Well, we'll never know all the sources of his angst or how he lives with himself knowing full well that he's directly responsible for the 'death' of his 'best' friend. Ironically, while the film does allow for reconciliation between Nick and Annie, Pete just never really gets dealt with. His guilt does finally get the better of him, as it should, but not until way, way past the point of normalcy. This kid is just a complete numnutz, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
Now all of that may sound harsh and tend to make one think that The Invisible isn't a good film. Well, that's not entirely true. It's actually not that bad at all. While it suffers from some hard to comprehend character behavior and some horrendous over-acting, it has some merits. Justin Chatwin shows promise as a young actor. He's got some of the most emotion-filled eyes set in the most emotionless face I've ever seen. This is the ideal combination for an actor playing characters filled with rage, anger, or unbelievable grief—all of which bubble within Nick Powell's psyche. Likewise, Margarita Levieva showed herself to be a dynamic, physical, multi-dimensional actress. The moment she finally removes her stocking cap to let out that gorgeous mane of curly locks, was nearly breathtaking. She endowed her character fully with the capacity for growth, eventual regret, and the will do change. If one distills the film down to an examination of just these two characters and their interactions, which is the essence of the film and the way it ends, the result is pretty compelling and interesting. As for the rest of the film? Well, it's well-filmed and directed. The writing is uneven as is the character development. The scenery is beautiful and yet ominous. In the end, it's an incongruous film with standout performances by the young leads. The best and the worst blended together like expensive coffee swirled with artificial, gelatinous whipped crème.
 Justin Chatwin as Nick Powell |  Margarita Levieva as Annie Newton |
 Ryan Kennedy as Matty |  Justin Chatwin as Nick Powell |
 Nick Powell tries to communicate with Annie |  Marcia Gay Harden as Nick's Mom, Diane |
Back to Top | W.I.P. Scale™ | Most Recently Reviewed Films | Films of 2005 | Films of 2006 | Films of 2007
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring The Invisible (2007)
Cast Members
Justin Chatwin
• Margarita Levieva • Marcia Gay HardenChris Marquette
• Alex O'Loughlin • Callum Keith KeithRyan Kennedy
Director
David S. Goyer
Screenwriters
Mick Davis
• Christine Roum| Book | DVD | VHS |
| Original Film | Related Book | Related Book |
The Invisible (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
As Hollywood continues searching for new stories, it is discovering the a fertile world as exemplified by David S. Goyer's film, The Invisible, adapted from the book Den Osynlige and film by Swedish author Mats Wahl. Goyer's version, rendered worthy of comments no producer wants uttered upon exit: "Not as good as The Sixth Sense" and "Basically everything's in the preview", seems faithful to written descriptions of the original. Senior Nick Powell's Justin Chatwin's and Margarita Levieva's performances were standouts. The rest of the cast, with only partially developed characters, does not fare as well. Most dubious was Pete (Chris Marquette) Nick's 'best' buddy who cashes in their friendship to save his own hide. It's an incongruous film with the best and the worst blended together like expensive coffee swirled with artificial, gelatinous whipped crème.
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