Release Date:
07/24/2009
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
The Skinny: After a couple (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard) lose their unborn child, they look to a local orphanage to fill the void and adopt a seemingly sweet Russian girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). Esther then raises all kinds of gory hell with rocks, hammers, siblings, SUVs and… an easel?
The Good: Even though it feels like every "creepy new kid joins the family" flick you've seen in the past, trust us it's not. In fact, the second half of the movie goes to great lengths to undermine the first with a ridiculous-but-kind-of-genius plot twist that both screws with your head and also answers a lot of questions. Farmiga is the heart of a solid cast, and Fuhrman is one absolutely unsettling heathen. Plus, there aren't many spooky movies in the summer, and you certainly won't find many that will make you laugh like this one (both genuinely and nervously.)
The Bad: The twist either makes or breaks the movie for you, and because it's so crucial to the way the story is told, the film has very little repeat-viewing value. Also, the movie is a little slow to wrap up once the cat is out of the bag. Still, it's worth pushing past the wizards who will surely still be hanging at the box office this weekend.
Snow Job: The movie is set in snowy place, so we're not sure it makes perfect sense as a summer movie. Even in the humidity of New York in mid-July, we walked out of the theater with the urge to pull on a heavy coat – just one of the many ways this movie messed up our heads.
Arbitrary Critic Rating: Because he's one of the few "serious" critics we've seen give this movie a shot, we'll give it 3.5 Roger Eberts.
The Skinny: After a couple (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard) lose their unborn child, they look to a local orphanage to fill the void and adopt a seemingly sweet Russian girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). Esther then raises all kinds of gory hell with rocks, hammers, siblings, SUVs and… an easel?
The Good: Even though it feels like every "creepy new kid joins the family" flick you've seen in the past, trust us it's not. In fact, the second half of the movie goes to great lengths to undermine the first with a ridiculous-but-kind-of-genius plot twist that both screws with your head and also answers a lot of questions. Farmiga is the heart of a solid cast, and Fuhrman is one absolutely unsettling heathen. Plus, there aren't many spooky movies in the summer, and you certainly won't find many that will make you laugh like this one (both genuinely and nervously.)
The Bad: The twist either makes or breaks the movie for you, and because it's so crucial to the way the story is told, the film has very little repeat-viewing value. Also, the movie is a little slow to wrap up once the cat is out of the bag. Still, it's worth pushing past the wizards who will surely still be hanging at the box office this weekend.
Snow Job: The movie is set in snowy place, so we're not sure it makes perfect sense as a summer movie. Even in the humidity of New York in mid-July, we walked out of the theater with the urge to pull on a heavy coat – just one of the many ways this movie messed up our heads.
Arbitrary Critic Rating: Because he's one of the few "serious" critics we've seen give this movie a shot, we'll give it 3.5 Roger Eberts.
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