Bussano alla porta

Just so you know where I'm coming from up front, I should preface this review by saying I'm not the biggest M. Night Shyamalan fan - in fact, I kind of like to tease and mock his movies when I watch them with friends. I think he often starts off with interesting ideas but, perhaps because of his early success with The Sixth Sense, always feels this need to cram in some kind of ridiculous twist (or multiple twists) at the end. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't - but he seems to rely on the surprise of the twist to win people over too much. It was a surprise to me then when this movie didn't have a twist at all. I kept waiting for it - but it never came.

That's not really a good thing though because the movie is very slow and plodding, never really going anywhere, and at 1hr 40min the premise just isn't engaging enough to sustain interest for the duration. It's not all bad though. Perhaps the most surprising thing is Dave Bautista, who delivers a nuanced understated performance as Leonard. I still remember when I used to assume a movie was going to be bad if Bautista was in it - but over the past few years he has really come into his own as an actor and is showing his ability to take on some interesting roles.

While I can't really recommend this movie I do have to give it a few bonus points just for Bautista.