The Lookalike

By poser-ish I mean that it's trying to be a gritty crime ensemble flick but it's just a little 'off' in most regards.

The acting is a little 'off' at times as is the direction, editing and the cinematography isn't the best, they are trying to make it look fancy but instead manages to do the exact opposite.

The overall plot is pretty cool but the dialogue could definitely have done with some enhancements with a lot of cheesy lines that feels like they were taken out of a soap-opera at times.

So yeah it's not a film that grabbed me by the edge of my seat and occasionally my mind wondered astray but for the more-part it managed to keep my interest.

So yeah watchable but flawed, 5.5/10 from me.

Some might argue a perfect lookalike, which wouldn't be wrong at all. The movie itself has quite a few characters it has to bring together or at least introduce and let them play out what they are trying to do. Obviously everyone involved has their own agenda and not everything is as it seems.

Acting-wise you get what you'd expect, with so many known faces. Some might be surprised by the women involved, but only in a very positive way. They all have tough roles to play out, but they deliver. While the story might not have that wow effect going for it, it still is as the movie itself pretty good.

The multiple plot twists don't really come together until the last ten minutes of the movie. I would have spent more time developing the Sadie Hill plot twist at Versailles. They did a decent job introducing that at the beginning of the story. But the dramatic scene near the end left more questions than answers. Basically, this is a drug drama with several disjointed murder plots stashed in the middle. And an ending that was not fully developed enough to explain the mysterious past relationship which seems to be the premise that exploits the finale plot twist. The effort of one of the minor characters seemed wasted to me.

Your liking of The Lookalike might very well depend on how much coincidences you are ready to accept in a storyline. This one heavily relies on them, some quite extraordinary, but if you are tolerant - or in the mood to be - they are acceptable, especially since they come early on in the introduction of the characters and their respective schemes.

The story is fine, the cast is fine, the picture is often very colourful, in contrast to what must be inside the minds of the protagonists, and there are plenty of beautiful shots, notably of New Orleans and the bayou. What is certainly not so good is the score.

The music is absent from most scenes, but is there for the romance and for the violence. That's unfortunate, specially for the latter. Indeed, these particular scenes lack tension and fail to involve the viewer. Be they a kidnapping or a shoot out, they pass with a level of detachment that doesn't quite fit the genre. I appreciate that they avoid the gruesome of many other films, not so much that they also avoid the thrills. Blaming the music may very well let me overlook other factors, but I'll unfairly leave it at that.

Despite lots of good actors, this film (story line) is all over the place. Meg.