So before the review itself, I'd like to thank the good folks at 20th Century Fox for the invite. Truly a great movie you've got. It's also a good break from all the Summer Blockbusters and superhero movies coming out. That being said, on to the review.
There's a lot of words in my head when you mention 'Trance' but for me, the words HYPNOTIC and MINDFUCK is the best way to describe the film in all it's entirety. You could also chuck in the word ART FILM for good measure. Yes, in my humble opinion this new offering from Boyle is that good.
“Trance” begins with an adeptly-planned heist at an auction house which goes violently awry when the auctioneer inside man takes a blow to the head leaving him with no memory of where the stashed the stolen Goya painting. The story quickly turns into a high stakes triangle – the painting’s amnesiac thief (James McAvoy), his fearsome partner in crime, gang-leader (Vincent Cassel), and the alluring hypnotist (Rosario Dawson) hired to help recover his lost memories – as they all become trapped together in a brain-bending puzzle of their own making. The more they search for the missing Goya, the more it becomes clear that what is hidden is not just a priceless work of art, but fractured fragments of secrets, temptations, and treacheries that all add up to the truth.
To be honest, I thought this would be a bore but the moment James McAvoy does his monologue about the standard procedures for an art house heist, things suddenly went up. By the time the flick reached it's midpoint, I was already at the edge of my seat; Boyle definitely did a great job of buttering up his audience with gradual plot drops and twists.
The interplay here between Simon, Frank and Elizabeth is what definitely takes the cake for me. Each character gets shoved into the spotlight for a time being and they gradually show their end game, their vulnerabilities and their strength. McAvoy's Simon in particularly demonstrates that he can do all three simultaneously or at the drop of a hat which is very interesting.
Speaking of McAvoy, it's also worth mentioning that Danny Boyle did an excellent job of directing the actor here in the film. Throughout the film he goes from being a nice guy to being somebody who's capable of cold blooded murder. Spoiler much? Not yet, believe me I've barely ventured into spoiler territory here.
Complexities is the name of the game here for Trance as each character shows that all is not what it seems. Franck looks and acts like a simple French thug that's got money but that's soon tossed out the window. Same goes for Dawson's Elizabeth Lamb. Her's in particular is like a 7 layer cake. The best thing about this is that it's not that confusing once you've got a good hold of what's happening.
Another interesting thing about Trance is the use of colors for some scenes. In a way it's pretty easy to associate one color with a character. Cassel's place and some integral scenes are colored yellow or orange while Dawson's is blue and so on and so forth. It's wicked cinematography and a kind of subtle play on the whole artsy side of the film.
Much like Christopher Nolan's Inception the film plays with the mind. Not just the characters' minds but also ours. It makes us ask what's real and what's not. What's the visual hynopsis and what's the 'reel' thing. The beauty about this movie is that it perfectly blends what's true, what's perceived and what's imagined. Bravo for the layered storytelling Mr. Boyle.
The ending is open for various interpretations. On a structural level, the movie's got a definitely ending but there's just something satisfying about closing it and leaving the cinema with your own interpretation of how the characters move on after the final moments. On the cab ride home, Pam and I were arguing on some of the finer plot details which is really cute.
I love the twists and turns in this flick. It's also an interesting take by Boyle on the whole Noir/ crime-caper drama film genre. Just don't snooze or you're going to be scratching your head and have a hard time trying to catch up. Anyway the movie's pretty good so there's a really small possibility that you'd even sleep on it.
On a side note, Mr. Skin will be very much pleased with Rosario Dawson's performance here as she does several nude scenes. I kept tabs there were about three or four. For McAvoy fangirls in the audience there's a butt scene for the guy who's slated to once again play the young Professor X for Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past.
VERDICT: 9/10
Great review. Not perfect, but still a bunch of fun with twists and turns that come out of nowhere.
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