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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A True Mind Twister That Requires Viewer Participation, March 31, 2005
THE I INSIDE is a very fine film that deserves a wide audience. It ranks up there with 'MEMENTO', 'THE SIXTH SENSE', and 'JACOB'S LADDER' as the sort of intelligent film that demands intensive participation on the part of the viewer to catch all of its nuances and possible plot variations.
Based on a play Michael Cooney who also wrote the screenplay and directed with considerable finesse by Roland Suso Richter, the story involves a bizarre mix of altered circumstances surrounding the hospitalization of Simon Cable (Ryan Phillippe in a performance that is the finest of his career and promises much more from this actor) whose circumstances for awakening under the care of one Dr Jeremy Newman (Stephen Rea) are nebulous. Dr Newman who slowly reveals to Simon that he is suffering from acute memory loss due to trauma and possible poisoning (he had undergone cardiac arrest and was resuscitated) and yet warmly reassures him he will soon return to normal. In essence Simon has 'lost' two years of his life, finding through the blur of amnesia that he has a wife Anna (Piper Perabo) who secretly reveals to him that there is a murder in his history that is part of an evil 'plan'. He also encounters Clair (Sarah Polley) who claims they are lovers. Simon is informed that his brother Peter (Robert Sean Leonard) is dead: Anna supports the premise that Simon killed him. The ingredients of the mystery of the lost two years are set in motion.
The connection between the past in 2000 and the 'present' in 2002 is slowly revealed in mind-boggling flashbacks and re-runs of possibilities: apparently the misdeeds of 2000 included an auto accident which resulted in Simon's hospitalization in the very place he finds himself in 2002 and in which his brother Peter died. Tense confrontations and secrets begin to surface and even the concept that if we re-enter our past we can change the future is presented convincingly. Yet how this all plays out is the magic of this fine film. There are so many avenues that could represent the 'true story' of Simon's life and his amnesia-altered past two years that it is truly up to the viewer to decide how this film ends!
The performances are all fine: Ryan Phillippe is superb, capturing all facets of this deluded young man and finding the strength of character in his Simon portrayal that makes us willing to identify with him at every turn. The photography by Martin Langer is moody and atmospheric without resorting to the usual fright tactics. The musical score by Nicholas Pike enhances every frame. But it is the terse direction of Richter that makes this thriller sail into the ranks of the truly fine films of this genre. Grady Harp, March 05
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Simply put: A blatant cheat with zero payoff., October 2, 2005
This movie has a strong sense of "Been there, done that before." No, I'm not talking about the characters, I'm talking about the audience. It's kind of funny, I was reviewing the C-grade horror movie "Soul Survivors" the other day, and, perusing the other reviews, everyone seemed to be in agreement that the movie had far too many cheats and poor explanations. In actuality, I think it's just easier to rip apart low-budget horror movies than movies with more ambition, like "The I Inside," because this movie has far more cheats and dead-ends never explained than "Soul Survivors." "The I Inside" also attempts to do far more than "Soul Survivors," with much loftier aims, so it fails in a more spectacular way.
"The I Inside" stars Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Polley, Piper Perabo, Robert Sean Leonard, and Stephen Rea. The casting is good, I think. First of all, I don't think Ryan Phillippe can play an out-and-out good guy. Even when he tries to cover it, he just comes off and looks like an obnoxious brat. It's really not his fault, but it's there. But in this movie, his casting works, because he is a privileged, rich... well, brat, for lack of a better term who may not be the nice guy that he seems... if you think that's a clue he's really bad though, you'd be wrong too. As for the rest of the cast, I like them. Sarah Polley has slipped a little in recent years, but looking over her body of work she is still one of the most impressive actresses of her age, I think. Stephen Rea is great in pretty much whatever he does, and Leonard is a guy I liked since "Dead Poets Society" and recently reaffirmed his talent in the surprising "Tape." Piper Perabo is surprisingly good too - I'd like her in a shallow sort of way from some of her movies like "Lost And Delirious," but was not overly impressed.
Anyway, the story goes - Phillippe's character, Simon Cable, awakens from a horrible accident. He thinks it's 2000, but in actuality, it's 2002. He seems to have amnesia about quite a number of things. His doctors tell him it looks like he may have been poisoned. He meets his wife, she leaves, he finds out she's not his wife, and meets another woman, his "real" wife, and finds out she may not be what she seems either. Then a vanishing medic tries to kill him, and from there things get truly weird. To go on would be to divulge too many spoilers.
The problem with this movie is two-fold. One, it's something a bad mix of "Memento," "The Butterfly Effect," and even "Soul Survivors," and "Mulholland Drive," yes. It's like a hasty grab-bag of altered reality movies/limited knowledge movies. In movies like these, you pretty much have a good idea of how things are going to unfold. You figure the things that seem intentionally confusing are going to be revealed when the movie ends and the viewer is able to connect the dots. Within the first couple of lines spoken by the doctor, you have a good idea of what the kicker is going to be. Then you go through the movie and think, "wait, that's far too childishly obvious, it can't be that, if it was *that*, then there would be a ton of stuff unaccounted for." Well guess what? Surprise! It really is *that.* There is a lot unaccounted for. Some critics and reviewers I've seen talking about this movie claim that everything has a good explanation. I disagree. I think if you really, really stretch the narrative beyond the breaking point, and give the creators more benefit of the doubt than you've giving anything in your entire life, you can foist a semi-plausible explanation on just about everything in the movie, but even then there are still glaring miscues. Among them, pointing them out so as not to give spoilers:
#1- The medic trying to kill Cable makes no sense.
#2- What Cable's brother did in the car makes no sense (you know when if you've seen the movie, it's the only thing of import he does in the car).
#3- What if the time was, say, 1:57 a.m. instead? What then? You'd have a mess, that's what.
All in all, maybe I'd recommend this movie as an exercise in getting a delicious little visceral thrill of being cheated or frustrated, or trying to play a game of fix the cinematic Rubik's Cube and try and account for all the problems and tidy up the explanation of the movie, but on its own merits, I cannot recommend "The I Inside," despite nice performances by the cast.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
decent story, but a little empty over all., April 18, 2005
I can't imagine what it must've been like to see this as a play! It makes a pretty good hallucinatory film, but the dialogue is occasionally stilted. I'm not sure I would buy this, but recommend renting it for a look. I don't agree that it is better than The Butterfly Effect although there are certain similarities. I was impressed with Sarah Polley's performance, but found that Ryan Phillippe was better when he had really dramatic scenes to react off of rather than when he wasn't really in motion and just seemed bored or uncertain of his dialogue.
The first half of the film where you don't know who is really to be trusted, and what exactly is going on is quite well done though and that's why I give it 3 stars.
Also the ending is not a letdown, and the whole atmosphere is quite strong throughout. There's just those few dry moments where the acting or dialogue doesn't really seem believeable, and you know it's only there to support the direction of the story. That put me off a bit. I admit I won't forget alot of the scenes for a long time, so enjoy, and yeah maybe it will leave a more lasting impression after all. You'll wonder what kind of a world you might wake up to after your next nightmare I'll bet.
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