In this age of whiz-bang technology, it was only a matter of time beforethe forces that be sought to cash in on the moving picture. The avenue orgimmick that has been chosen is the soon-to-be-extinct VHS tape and themode of transportation ensconced with that black reel of tape. The premiseof this tale is simple -- the unmitigated attempt to scare the pants offthe viewer and add another notch onto the long list of "urban legends" thatpermeate American folklore. The film entreats us to enter thesoon-to-be-radically-changed lives of two teenage girls, Katie Embry andBecca Kottler (Amber Tamblyn, Rachael Bella), spending a boring night atKatie's home while the parents are away. They are commiserating to oneanother over the random blahs associated with being a teenager with just alittle too much time on their hands. Before the evening is over, one willbe dead of a stroke at 16; and the other will be admitted as a patient inthe mental ward.
The scenario has been set by the revelation uttered by Becca upon viewing acertain videotape; the phone would ring afterward and the person watchingthe tape would be told by an eerie, female voice that they have preciselyseven days left to live -- no more, no less. Being the teenagers they areand knowing the feeling of invincibility, somehow genetically ingrainedwithin, they scoff at such an incredible claim. Those first movie minutes,though, will radically change them and the audience and, suffice it to say,not for the better. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), Katie's aunt, is areporter for a Portland newspaper and is asked by her mother to find outprecisely what happened and why. Rachel's young son, Aidan (David Dorfman),
was close to Katie and a week before she died, he drew a disturbing numberof drawings depicting her death and burial.
With a nose for research, Rachel begins her journey and very quicklydiscovers the elusive tape and being the journalist she is, she watches itwith disturbing results. She has set the clock in motion for her own demiseif the tale is to be believed. Soon, her friend the video expert andex-lover, Noah (Martin Henderson) also watches the tape and agrees to helpher unravel this tale before it does them both in. Necessity becomes themotherhood of invention when, on a nightmare night, a third potentialvictim, Rachel's young son, is unable to sleep and views the tape as well.Time becomes of the utmost essence as they are all in a race against death.To say this film provides chills and unexpected turns in the road would bean injustice. The twists and turns, the precision and pacing of scenes, thedoom and gloom, Sturm und Drang, the photography (marvelously filmed byBojan Bazelli with an eye to detail), the rain and the grey of the sets --all are mood enhancers to carry us further into the nightmare that hasbecome a cursed reality and places the puzzle on a course for destructionon an undulating scale.
"The Ring" is a rare film that deviates from the norm one would expect ofsuch a project. The lists are filled with slasher flicks that strew bodies,blood, gore, and non-credible storylines across the screen. "The Ring" isbased on the Japanese film, "Ringu" (1998) and taken from the novel by KojiSuzuki of the same name with a screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi. ThisAmerican version was penned by Ehren Kruger. Previous directorial work byGore Verbinski never gave an indication of what he was really capable inthis endeavor. One could sarcastically ask, "What's to be expected fromsomeone who was the creator of the Budweiser frogs and such light fare as"Mouse Hunt?" I think with more time and dedication to his craft and thebacking of willing and deep-pocketed studios, Verbinski may use this movieas a foundation for better and better projects.
While "The Ring" is neither on the same level with films such as thepsychologically-charged "The Haunting" directed by Robert Wise (1963) norwith M. Night Shyamalan's superb "The Sixth Sense" (1998), it triesmightily to hit a ball of homerun proportions out of the stands. Thestandard use of a story that, on one level, entices us to "go ahead andopen that door" or "look like you're ready to scream yourself silly at thefirst instance of doing precisely what you tell the actor on the screen NOTto do when you watch a scary movie," are key elements to what makes usterrified of that spectrum of uncertainty. The machinations portrayed here,though, are not of the roller coaster variety, but rather of the temporarystopping of the heart and the air we breathe before the next wave hits tomake us captive within its grasp.
Even though "The Ring" stays in the ballpark with a triple, there is stillroom for more workouts of the writing variety as gaps in the storyflow haveone wondering at the end precisely what it was that caused a certain actionto fall as it did. The ending provided an unexpected and fantastic twist inthe proceedings and to know it is to love it. A smoother melding of theproceedings, staying on course with firmer results, would have carried usfrom A to Z rather than hopscotching from A to C, back to A and then to Hbefore winding up back at E. The special effects by Terry Chapman, BurtDalton, Jurgen Heimann, and Rick Baker of Cinovation are catchy and not tobe missed, and in the closing moments of the film, are utterly mesmerizing.
The acting was what was to be expected, although it must be noted thatyoung Aidan (Dorfman), precocious, somber and emoting as much feeling asthe drip of a Chinese water torture, began to grate on the last unfrazzlednerve of the reviewer. His reference to his mother by her first name waslike fingernails down a blackboard. Watts is a fine screamer and could, atmoments, find herself possessed of a certain degree of the "Oh my god! Whatdo we do now?" about her. Henderson is that typical breed of actor whobeing young, handsome, and forthright, has many years ahead in which toperfect his craft without having the current crop of male cookie cuttercuties worried about the next up and coming. The marvelous Jane Alexander,always a joy to behold, does work her magic in the small role of the islandtown doctor who adds another part to the puzzle slowly beginning to takeshape for Rachel. It's a pity, though, that her time was so short in thefilm, for if you blinked, you missed her.
If you have a lazy afternoon to spend, or perhaps have friends over onenight, "The Ring" will provide the needed screams and eyes either closed orbehind-the-hands and the "oh my gosh, did you see that!" necessary. Turnthe lights off, lock all the doors, keep the phone handy, and prepare forthose things that go "bump in the night."
Mary F. Sibley
Ring, The
In this age of whiz-bang technology, it was only a matter of time beforethe forces that be sought to cash in on the moving picture. The avenue orgimmick that has been chosen is the soon-to-be-extinct VHS tape and themode of transportation ensconced with that black reel of tape. The premiseof this tale is simple -- the unmitigated attempt to scare the pants offthe viewer and add another notch onto the long list of "urban legends" thatpermeate American folklore. The film entreats us to enter thesoon-to-be-radically-changed lives of two teenage girls, Katie Embry andBecca Kottler (Amber Tamblyn, Rachael Bella), spending a boring night atKatie's home while the parents are away. They are commiserating to oneanother over the random blahs associated with being a teenager with just alittle too much time on their hands. Before the evening is over, one willbe dead of a stroke at 16; and the other will be admitted as a patient inthe mental ward.
The scenario has been set by the revelation uttered by Becca upon viewing acertain videotape; the phone would ring afterward and the person watchingthe tape would be told by an eerie, female voice that they have preciselyseven days left to live -- no more, no less. Being the teenagers they areand knowing the feeling of invincibility, somehow genetically ingrainedwithin, they scoff at such an incredible claim. Those first movie minutes,though, will radically change them and the audience and, suffice it to say,not for the better. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), Katie's aunt, is areporter for a Portland newspaper and is asked by her mother to find outprecisely what happened and why. Rachel's young son, Aidan (David Dorfman),
was close to Katie and a week before she died, he drew a disturbing numberof drawings depicting her death and burial.
With a nose for research, Rachel begins her journey and very quicklydiscovers the elusive tape and being the journalist she is, she watches itwith disturbing results. She has set the clock in motion for her own demiseif the tale is to be believed. Soon, her friend the video expert andex-lover, Noah (Martin Henderson) also watches the tape and agrees to helpher unravel this tale before it does them both in. Necessity becomes themotherhood of invention when, on a nightmare night, a third potentialvictim, Rachel's young son, is unable to sleep and views the tape as well.Time becomes of the utmost essence as they are all in a race against death.To say this film provides chills and unexpected turns in the road would bean injustice. The twists and turns, the precision and pacing of scenes, thedoom and gloom, Sturm und Drang, the photography (marvelously filmed byBojan Bazelli with an eye to detail), the rain and the grey of the sets --all are mood enhancers to carry us further into the nightmare that hasbecome a cursed reality and places the puzzle on a course for destructionon an undulating scale.
"The Ring" is a rare film that deviates from the norm one would expect ofsuch a project. The lists are filled with slasher flicks that strew bodies,blood, gore, and non-credible storylines across the screen. "The Ring" isbased on the Japanese film, "Ringu" (1998) and taken from the novel by KojiSuzuki of the same name with a screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi. ThisAmerican version was penned by Ehren Kruger. Previous directorial work byGore Verbinski never gave an indication of what he was really capable inthis endeavor. One could sarcastically ask, "What's to be expected fromsomeone who was the creator of the Budweiser frogs and such light fare as"Mouse Hunt?" I think with more time and dedication to his craft and thebacking of willing and deep-pocketed studios, Verbinski may use this movieas a foundation for better and better projects.
While "The Ring" is neither on the same level with films such as thepsychologically-charged "The Haunting" directed by Robert Wise (1963) norwith M. Night Shyamalan's superb "The Sixth Sense" (1998), it triesmightily to hit a ball of homerun proportions out of the stands. Thestandard use of a story that, on one level, entices us to "go ahead andopen that door" or "look like you're ready to scream yourself silly at thefirst instance of doing precisely what you tell the actor on the screen NOTto do when you watch a scary movie," are key elements to what makes usterrified of that spectrum of uncertainty. The machinations portrayed here,though, are not of the roller coaster variety, but rather of the temporarystopping of the heart and the air we breathe before the next wave hits tomake us captive within its grasp.
Even though "The Ring" stays in the ballpark with a triple, there is stillroom for more workouts of the writing variety as gaps in the storyflow haveone wondering at the end precisely what it was that caused a certain actionto fall as it did. The ending provided an unexpected and fantastic twist inthe proceedings and to know it is to love it. A smoother melding of theproceedings, staying on course with firmer results, would have carried usfrom A to Z rather than hopscotching from A to C, back to A and then to Hbefore winding up back at E. The special effects by Terry Chapman, BurtDalton, Jurgen Heimann, and Rick Baker of Cinovation are catchy and not tobe missed, and in the closing moments of the film, are utterly mesmerizing.
The acting was what was to be expected, although it must be noted thatyoung Aidan (Dorfman), precocious, somber and emoting as much feeling asthe drip of a Chinese water torture, began to grate on the last unfrazzlednerve of the reviewer. His reference to his mother by her first name waslike fingernails down a blackboard. Watts is a fine screamer and could, atmoments, find herself possessed of a certain degree of the "Oh my god! Whatdo we do now?" about her. Henderson is that typical breed of actor whobeing young, handsome, and forthright, has many years ahead in which toperfect his craft without having the current crop of male cookie cuttercuties worried about the next up and coming. The marvelous Jane Alexander,always a joy to behold, does work her magic in the small role of the islandtown doctor who adds another part to the puzzle slowly beginning to takeshape for Rachel. It's a pity, though, that her time was so short in thefilm, for if you blinked, you missed her.
If you have a lazy afternoon to spend, or perhaps have friends over onenight, "The Ring" will provide the needed screams and eyes either closed orbehind-the-hands and the "oh my gosh, did you see that!" necessary. Turnthe lights off, lock all the doors, keep the phone handy, and prepare forthose things that go "bump in the night."
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