Customer Reviews

The Lazarus Project

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Lazarus Project" aka "The Heaven Project" is one of those straight-to-DVD releases, which was okay i guess, though after viewing it, I felt this was a lot better than some other actual cinematic releases that were pure drivel.

Paul Walker [of The Fast and the Furious] plays Ben Garvey, an ex-con who is just getting his life back on track with a beautiful, supportive wife [Piper Perabo] and young daughter. But his past catches up with him and his no-gooder brother comes back into his life with a solution - robbery - well, things go terribly awry resulting in fatalities, and Ben is left to shoulder the guilt and blame. He is sentenced to die by lethal injection and that is when the movie actually begins.

Ben finds himself getting a sort of 'reprieve' from death and is whisked away to an psychiatric facility somewhere out in the boondocks and is given the job of groundskeeper - the people that he comes into contact are all either strange or sinister or both - the priest Ezra [Bob Gunton]who runs the facility, Robbie [Malcolm Goodwin] a mentally challenged patient, William [Tony Curran] a violent inmate, psychiatrist Julie [Linda Cardellini] who warms up to Ben very quickly, and a stranger [Lambert Wilson] who pops up at the most inopportune times to warn Ben that something's afoot.

The movie takes its time to unfold, but what carries this movie through is not just the storytelling, with its unique premise, but Paul Walker's performance - I know, he's not exactly known for his acting chops, but he does a pretty decent job here of lending credibility to his character. I actually came to care about what happened to Ben in this movie. All in all, this was a decent thriller with a good premise.

In Dallas, Texas, the family man Ben Garvey is on probation but he is a hard worker of the Fort Garry Brewery Company and lives a simple life with his beloved wife Lisa and their daughter Katie. When his probation period finishes, Ben's brother Rick visits him after being released from prison and invites Ben to heist 12 kg of gold in dust from a laboratory. Ben refuses the invitation but he is fired from his job because of his record; he decides to join Ricky and his partner Phelps in the robbery. However things go wrong and Ricky, Phelps and a security guard die in the heist and Ben is sentenced to death for the murders. After his execution through lethal injection, Ben awakes working as housekeeper of the Monte Angel community in Dundee, Oregon, for Father Ezra, who explains to him that his past life is gone and now he is having a second chance. However he should never cross the boundaries of the location, otherwise he would die. Ben feels confused with the weird situation but he can not forget Lisa and Katie and forces Ezra to give a plausible explanation to him. But while working in the garden, Ben finds a frisby on the grass; he investigates and discloses the secret of the facility. A psychological thriller that will make you think from the the beginning to the end. Although a bit slow in the first parts to the middle, thats why its a psychological thriller, the climax to the end compensated for it. The lines are well delivered, a good script, good acting all in all, a good movie.

A trip of a film...I thought about how to title this film the whole time I was watching it...the best I could come up with is; What a Trip..a truly psychological ride of (in the end) an anti-smoking film.

Films like these can be debated for a long time as to when reality blurs into fiction and if the film actually ever occurs at certain points. I saw this as an approachable film with little recognition that can be attained by the masses. Bob Gunton. Piper Perabo and Brooklynn Proulx all perform in a film that I fear will be forgotten in the mass of subpar indie films coming out this quarter.

Nothing should be explained much beyond a man experiencing a strange life of getting second chances, numerology, psychiatric misappropriation, innocent family love, and a beautiful filming location character of Canada. This is the second film in as many days (coming out this week) that shows what a splendor our Northern neighbor has.

I was pleasantly surprised by the score, content and sublime symbolism that permeates this piece. Many critics have afforded their worthless opinions of how this film failed because of PW, but I would say give this film a chance and maybe you will be entertained by a solid psychological thriller worth watching more than once. Two deleted scenes are included to add some character content, but nothing else to speak of for the DVD. The film quality is good, and between this and Bobby Z, PW has proven he has range.

I didn't know what to think after I finished watching this movie. I didn't love it, nor did I hate it. I just sort of liked it. The plot twists were nice, but not something totally out of the park. The acting was ok, but nothing stellar. The setting of the movie and the timing was very good though. I felt having the movie set in Oregon added to the suspense of the film.

It's something to watch and something to make you think. But it's not something I could watch over and over again.

I was surprised how good this movie was. A bit of a shame it wasn't released in theaters while other worse films were. The Lazarus Project isn't amazing, but it nails it's goal as a psychological thriller. Definitely worth seeing, and if you're just looking for a psychological thriller you haven't seen, and won't be disappointed by, get this.

The plot twists are managed very well; you don't know what is really going on until near the end. I thought the final scene was a bit over the top, but the overall experience of watching the movie was suspensful and kept me engaged to want to see what was going to happen next, and care for the main character, Ben. I was hoping he'd remember this or that, etc. Other than that very last scene, I can't think of any other faults with the movie at all...it doesn't bite off more than it can chew. It isn't Se7en, and it doesn't try to be. A lot of movies ruin themselves like that.

Anyway, this is a good movie. Check it out.

I bought this video being that I am Paul Walker fan. The movie was ok by the end, but real slow to start. The movie points dont really start until about 40minutes in, which can make you lose interest. But, if you are willing to wait it out, the ending is worth it!!!

I rented this movie on Netflix, so got it the day it released. I'm a Walker fan, but had prepared myself for a less-than-wonderful performance given it went straight to video, but I was delighted with what I saw.

Bottom line? I really enjoyed this picture. I'll be buying a copy of the DVD and will definitely be watching it again.. but mostly I JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY IT WENT STRAIGHT TO DVD!!
I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat during the movie, I went through a range of emotions. There were no gratuitous sections (violence, love scenes or any other). There was no fluff, the acting was very good - it was easy to forget these are actors and I got into the characters.
Weak points - the part of brother wasn't acted terribly well, a couple of parts of the story (but not the plot) were a bit weak, esp the premise around why he went back to a life of crime felt a bit "thin" to me - probably a result of rushing just a bit to get to the "real" story - post the lethal injection.

I hope others enjoy this movie as much as I did and talk about it - spread the word.

"For I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:"


Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):

1. Ben Garvey (Paul Walker) is an ex-con who has done his crime, his time and his parole, and has just become a free man
2. He has a wife (Piper Perabo) and a daughter to support
3. He loses his job
4. Before the ink on his termination papers is dry, he proves that he's not so reformed after all
5. Big mistake - huge
6. In defiance of several books written by John Grisham, his trial and sentence are over in a jiffy
7. He dies
8. Or does he?
9. He wakes up to find that he has a job as a caretaker at a hospital, a second chance, a guardian angel (Lambert Wilson) and the shadow of Death on his shoulder.
10. Or does he?

This is a fairly good psychological thriller if you can skirt around the plot holes and stop yourself from screaming at Garvey when he fails to do things that are blatantly obvious to everyone else, or does things that are incredibly dumb.

Walker does a good job in the lead role, and Perabo deserves a medal for tolerance. Bob Gunton (Rendition, The Shawshank Redemption) is especially effective as Father Ezra, the administrator of the hospital, and Wilson shows some of his Matrix mettle even though his is a relatively small part.

A good one to rent, if only to watch Paul Walker come forth

Rated: 3.5 stars



Amanda Richards, October 19, 2008

Great Movie. Might start out a bit slow but as you catch on you will soon feel for Ben (Paul Walker) as he's in a position that challenges his sanity, knowing who he can trust and who's in on the plot.
I found the movie to be very different from others I've seen. The movie throughout stays pretty mysterious.
How one likes & rates this Movie is so very subjective to how one looks at life, how one understands Psychology and how one can relate. I've given it 5 Stars because it definitely captured me and gave me to think.

*Possible spoilers*

"The Lazarus Project" is a movie with an intriguing premise, but a not so intriguing execution. It is about Ben Garvey (Paul Walker), an ex con, who tries to live a straight life after his probation has finally ended, but who gets laid off from his job because of his criminal background and, desperate for money to support his family, agrees to go on a heist with his brother and steal gold in dust from a laboratory. The mission goes awfully wrong, however, and three people end up dead, except for Ben - who survived only because he was in the back packing up the stuff. Somehow the jury convicts him for being responsible for the deaths of those three people and he is sentenced to death. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the town of Dundee, Oregon, working as groundskeepers and being told that he needs to leave his past life behind and move forward. Strange things start happening and that is where the story unfolds.

As mentioned above, while this was an interesting story with a truly titillating premise, it was poorly executed and Ben wasnt the the only one for whom things didnt quite add up. There were just a lot of inconsistencies in there and huge plot holes that ultimately resulted in making this a totally unbelievable story.

First and foremost, no one acts like you'd expect them. I mean who gets executed, even in the state of Texass, for accessory to second degree murder and fails ALL appeals? Ben Garvey didnt even pull the trigger, he didnt even have a gun, yet he gets _executed_ and everyone talks about what a horrible criminal he is who needs rehabilitation - like he was some serial killer or rapist or some other demented violent offender, even though clearly he went stealing out of necessity and not because he is a psycho. Speaking of which: who turns to a life of crime and risks serious incarceration and losing his family because he lost his job. Why didnt he just collect unemployment and went talking to his parole officer to find him a job? That just didnt make sense. Maybe that wasnt an option but if that is the case, the writers should have somehow put that in there instead of just ignoring it and hoping it will go unnoticed.

It is a sign of bad acting and bad writing when characters in movies dont behave like you would expect a person in real life to behave. Yes we all know this is a movie but some resemblance to reality helps increasing the credibility and quality of said movie. I mean, who greets a person they believe dead and whose funeral they attended, like he just came back from vacation? If someone I believed dead stood at my door, I would pass out, not give them a tender hug.

If this is a rehabilitation facility, does that mean an entire town has been dedicated to it? Since there were no guards and everyone could roam around freely and had internet access etc., how did they imagine to shield people from their old lives? Since the the mother and daughter at the cafe are the same mother and daughter in the second set up video about real estate, then the whole town must have been in on this. But, how is all this funded? It seems like a huge undertaking and you do wonder who would fund such a thing, especially in a state that is notorious for harsh incarcerations and where people are apparently executed for robbery.

There seem to be hidden cameras everywhere but if they had a camera in there filming him, wouldnt they have found the picture that slipped under the cabinet? How is it rehabilitation to brainwash and manipulate a person into believing they are insane and imagined it all? How is that helping anyone? The exchange Garvey has with the project leader in the end was unintelligent and touched the issue of rehabilitation of criminals only superficially. In fact, it was done so poorly, it made people advocating for rehabilitation of criminals versus execution appear to be nothing but insane, deluded nut jobs themselves. That certainly didnt help the cause or accurately outline the debate. And what's up with the "demon" we see in the shadows? Arr you telling me that people in the business of rehabilitating criminals put on costumes and lurk on dark corners to scare the "inmates" from leaving by making them believe some demon will go after them if they leave town?

This movie is full of such inconsistencies and a lot of it just didnt make sense. Suspending disbelief is ok, but not to this degree. This was an interesting and suspenseful movie but I think it didnt do a good job at creating an even semi-solid, coherent and believable movie without gaping plot holes. I dont get why anyone would give this 4 or 5 stars as the immense plot holes and inconsistencies were staggering.